Full text of "Francis Adrian Van der Kemp, 1752-1829, an autobiography, together with extracts from his correspondence;"

See other formats

^^Ho,

^^^-•^\/ "o^-^-'Z v^'y "°-*-"

'^'- " .«.* •^^.Va'. "^...Z /^K% *-^,>* .*}<»(". "^

o V . (•

^''^^ -.^

,0'

■^^.,s^

^^'""- \f' '&§''\f ■«'■'- \/ 4S"- ^

•*^Vf:' ^/\ --Sm* ^*^' "'■'^, -yf^V ,^*"' "*^, •'?^-' ^

f.^ 0 " c , -^^ ^^^ . ^ ' » . '^^ O^ , 0 " ° ^ '^O \'^

0 .^V'. -^ '^

.\^ ..„ -^c^

* • "^ "^^ " ' "

1. ' B -O* A

'^^ ^^^^

.-■^:;^.^ .^

v^^.r:^\^^'

"-.

/,A^^/V,^ '^^. /^"

^^. .v^' /^l^^.

Of this Limited Letterpress Edition Seven
Hundred and Fifty copies have been printed.
Type distributed after printing.

^r"'^^2^^^W2^t*'li^^^rHJ^

Travels in the Years 1791 and 1792 in
Pennsylvania, New York, and Vermont

Journals of John Lincklaen ; Agent of the
Holland Land Company. With a Bio-
graphical Sketch and Notes. Illustrated.
S° «<?/$2.5o

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS

NEW YORK AND LONDON

Francis Adrian van dcr Kemp.

^^'''^Frommiuiaiure. '' RiUer fecit. 1776."

.HELE>

AtlTH

A-

' s:isv»^v'^

FRANCIS ADRIAN

VAN DER KEMP

1752-1829

AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY

TOGETHER WITH EXTRACTS FROM HIS
CORRESPONDENCE

EDITED, WITH AN HISTORICAL SKETCH
BY

HELEN LINCKLAEN FAIRCHILD

AUTHOR OF "journals OF JOHN LINCKLAEN "

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
NEW YORK AND LONDON

XLbe IRnlcftetbocker iprcss

1903

THE LIBRARY OF
CONGRESS,

Two Copies Roceivst)

JUL 24 1903

Cupyfight Entry

,1, vUy 1 ; - ] a^ O ^

CUSS ^ XXc No,

h ^ S h ■s

COPY B.

HELEN LINCKLAEN FAIRCHILD

Ube ISnicherboclier ipcefle, mew ffiocft

PREFACE.

ALTHOUGH portions of the autobiog-
raphy of Francis Adrian van der Kemp
have been pubHshed recently, both in this
country and in Holland, and although it
touches upon American history, it is believed
to have appeared entire in print but once, in
1837, in an English periodical now difficult to
procure. The present edition has been com-
pared with an autograph copy,^ and notes have
been supplied, while, in order to make clearer
Mr. Van der Kemp's political course in Hol-
land, it has seemed necessary to add an ac-
count, from his own point of view, of the
Patriot movement in Holland, and of some of
his countrymen who took part with him in this
movement, and also in behalf of the American
Revolution, especially the Barons van der
Capellen.

' In the possession of the Buffalo Historical Society. Presented
\>y Mrs. Bernard Henry.

vi PREFACE.

From Mr. J. A. Sillem's admirable paper on
Capellen of Pol, much information has been
drawn, and the indebtedness is here acknow-
ledged, as well as the courteous aid of Messrs.
F. Mailer & Co. of Amsterdam, Mr. J. Nan-
ninga Uitterdyk, Archivist of Kampen, the late
Mr. L. van Hasselt, Archivist of Zwolle, and
Mr. A. J. van Laer, of the New York State
Library.

Of Mr. van der Kemp's papers but few re-
main. All documents relating to his public
work in Holland were sent by him from Kings-
ton to his friend Jan Jacob Cau, about 1790,
and cannot now be traced. Letters from his
correspondents in Europe and America during
his life in the New World, with the exception
of some from Jefferson and Clinton ^ and more
than a hundred from John Adams ^ were for
the most part returned or destroyed. Of let-
ters written by van der Kemp himself, a great
number were addressed to Adams, which Mr.

' In possession of the Buffalo Historical Society. Presented by
Mrs. Bernard Henry.

"^ In possession of the Pennsylvania Historical Society. Presented
by Mrs. Bernard Henry.

PREFACE. Vll

Charles Francis Adams has kindly allowed to
be consulted. From these letters and from
certain others to DeWitt Clinton/ to Luzac,
and to Peter Vreede, extracts have been taken
— and in some cases made more concise —
which add to the slender material for the story
of his life beyond what he himself has recorded.

The Buffalo, Pennsylvania, Oneida, Massa-
chusetts, and Connecticut Historical Societies,
and Columbia University, have kindly per-
mitted the use of unpublished material from
their collections. Passages have been quoted
from Mr. Seymour's Centennial Address at
Trenton, but the Address itself must be read
for an account of Mr. van der Kemp's friends
in Trenton, and for his Letters on a Tour of
the Western District of this State in 1792,
contained in the same volume.

Mrs. Pauline Elizabeth Henry, the grand-
daughter of van der Kemp, has permitted the
photographing of his portraits, and it is with
her sanction that the following pages are of-
fered to such readers as may be interested in

' Among the Clinton Papers, Columbia University.

viii PREFACE.

the period of which they treat, as m^inoircs
pour servir for the personal history of a group
of men in a foreign land, to whose good
offices at a critical time the United States of
America was greatly indebted.

Helen Lincklaen Fairchild.

Lorenzo, Cazenovia, N. Y.,
June, 1903.

CONTENTS

Introductory ....
I, Early Years in Holland
II. Political Work and Friendships

III. Gown and Sword

IV. Departure for America .
V. Oneida Lake ....

VI. Adam Gerard Mappa
VII. Olden Barneyeld
Appendices .

Appendix A

Appendix B

Appendix C

Note .

List of Works by Francis Adrian

der Kemp ....
List of Principal Authorities
sulted ....
Index

van

CON-

1 10

120

140

153

205

207
208
211

212

217

221

ILLUSTRATIONS

PACK

Francis Adrian van der Kemp Frontispiece ^

From miniature. " Ritter fecit. 1776."

Seal of Francis Adrian van der Kemp. . xii-

Alexander van der Capellen . ... 28

Baron Johan Derk van der Capellen of Pol, 30

From engraving brought to America by F. A. van der
Kemp.

Title-page of Speech against Lending the

Scotch Brigade for Service in America, 38

Peter Vreede 48

Facsimile of Invitation from John Adams . 66
Original owned by Pennsylvania Historical Society.

John Luzac 68

From engraving, n. d., S. Portman, sculp.

Facsimile of Page of Book Containing List

of Capellen of Pol's Property . . 70

Pieter John van Berckel, First Minister
FROM the United Netherlands to the
United States 72

Xll

ILL USTRA TIONS.

Francis Adrian van der Kemp, 1787 . , 94
From a portrait painted during his imprisonment in the
Haazenberg, Town Hall of Utrecht, and given to his
wife by a number of his friends.

Baron Robert Jaspar van der Capellen of

Marsch ........ 106

Enlarged from small pencil drawing formerly owned by
F. A. van der Kemp. Now in possession of Mrs. W.
E. Ford, Utica, New York.

FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP

FRANCIS ADRIAN
VAN DER KEMR

INTRODUCTORY.

IT is a strange web of political and personal
associations which we must find on turn-
ing to the study of any life which, under
whatever sky of Christendom, has touched its
meridian in the period of the French Revolu-
tion. The old order is giving place to the
new, and there seem gathered up in seventy
brief years as many changes as Time usually
allots to a much wider sweep of his sickle.

The " tale that is told " of his days by
Francis Adrian van der Kemp in the following
pages was written for his only son. The story
of his ancestors is found in a vellum-covered
Geslacht Boeck, in which the family history

2 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

has been entered ever since Mathys Bax, a
citizen of Dordrecht, set himself in November,
1698, being then no longer young, to copy
" word for word " from an old Bible ninety
years' records concerning his people.

The story, commenced by Mathys's grand-
father, Mathys Jansen, who married Adriana
Bax at Delft about 1609, is continued by his
father, Jan Mathysen Bax, who married Cor-
nelia van Ablasen of Dort in 1639, and who
carefully noted the births of his five children
in the old book, as well as certain important
simultaneous events. " My son Mathys was
born Aug. 15, 1640, when they made the har-
bour outside St. George's gate." " My son
Cornelius, April 20, 1646, when the long
wooden bridge was rebuilt."

Jan Mathysen himself held many offices of
trust. He died in 1683, and now lies "in the
tomb of the Great Church, where his coat-of-
arms is in the passage behind the choir."

His daughter Adriana was born, April 6,
1 65 1, Thursday before Easter, when, as he
notes, "the wheels of the crane are being re-

IN TROD UC TOR Y. 3

paired." Adriana married December 20, 1668,
Gysbert van der Kemp, of a name already as-
sociated with the family through the marriage
of an uncle, and their son Peter married An-
tonia van Drono-elen.

In the next generation there was a son John
van der Kemp, who, though bred for a mer-
chant, entered the army in 1745, as Under-
Lieutenant. In 1747, he was stationed with
his regiment, that of the Prince of Birken-
feld, at Breda. Here he was married in the
French, or Walloon, church, on September 10,
1 747, to Anna Catharina Leydekker, daughter
of Francis Leydekker, Receiver-General of
Ter Tholen, and Seneschal of St. Martensdyk,
whose mother was Helena de Huybert, daugh-
ter of Jan de Huybert, Lord of Westen
Schouwen.

The Zealand family of de Huybert, famed
even among the Spanish for valour and wealth,
had established itself in the fifteenth century
at Zierikzee by the wish of the people, and
there later was entrusted with the highest
offices of government. To three sailor-sons

4 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

of the race who carried PhiHp safely to Spain
in their s\\\^ Julium, the Emperor MaximiHan
gave the right to arm three servants, and to
carry a sword, with a device which is still used —
" three crowned kings with a closed helmet out
of which comes an armed hand," with the
legend, Waeckt Htiybert, "Watch Huybert."

To John de Huybert, Cecilia de Witte,
daughter of Jacob de Witte, Lord of Haam-
steede, brought the same Haamsteede as her
marriage portion. " From which marriage,"
writes John van der Kemp, the family chroni-
cler in 1770, "were born, as I am informed,
twenty-four children, of whom I have known
four, besides Helena de Huybert, whose child
was Anna Catharina Leydekker my wife." Van
der Kemp sums up his own career in half a
dozen modest lines: Cornet, Under-Lieutenant,
Lieutenant, First Lieutenant by Commission,
Captain, all entered in the old vellum-covered
book.

" I have been," he says, " in the battles of
Fontenoy and Rocroy, in which I lost all my
baggage. I have also been in the engagements

IN TROD UC TOR V. $

of Maiden and Aste, and have made the other
campaigns ; finally I have been in the pleasure
camp of 1769." He continued in the army till
his death at Maestricht in 1772, when of his
seven children but three were living — the
youngest, Cecilia Petronella,^ who did not
marry till after her mother's death ; a son,
Gysbert Antony, who went to the West Indies
in 1777 in command of his troops and died
at Batavia ; another son, the oldest, named
Francis Adrian, after his maternal grandfather
and his maternal uncle-in-law 'S Gravezande,
preacher at Middelburg, and baptised by
Dominie Ramboulet in the French church
at Kampen, May 7, 1752, who sixty-five years
later wrote, by his study fire in his remote
American home, the following history of his
eventful early life.

' Cecilia Petronella married advocate W. C. van Wouw, May, 1791,
and died at the birth of her daughter, Catharina Cecilia Petronella
Constantia. She v/as married July 4, 18 13, to Ulrich Johannes
Blankers Pasque at Geertruidenberg, and lived at Zvvyndrecht, near
Dordrecht. They had seven children.

F. A. v. D. K., MS., Genealogy.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF FRANCIS
ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP/

[F. A. van der Kemp was a correspondent of the late Rev. Dr. Joshua
Toulmin, who introduced him as a correspondent to the late Rev.
Theopliilus Lindsey. He is honourably mentioned in Mr. Belsham's
Memoirs of the Essex Stj-eei Covfesso?- [Lindsey], pp. 225-272. He
continued his correspondence with Mrs. Toulmin after her husband's
decease, and communicated to her the following account of himself,
not to be published during his lifetime. It is now put into our hands
by the survivors in the family of Mrs. Toulmin ; and we lay it before
our readers as an ingenuous account of a patriot and sincere Unitarian
Christian. We have made no other alterations in it than by a few
verbal corrections of the style of a foreigner. — Editor of The Christiatt
Reformer J\

EARLY YEARS IN HOLLAND.

My dear Son. Although it has not fallen to my
share to leave you wealth, yet consulting your
wishes, it seemed to me that it might not be in-
different to you to be informed by myself of the
principal events of your Father's chequered life. It
may enhance this gift in some respect in your estim-

' From The Christian Reformer, London, No. xli., vol. iv.. May
1837.

EARLY YEARS IN HOLLAND. /

ation that it is voluntary. I declined it to a worthy
patron and friend: it is true indeed I doubted that it
might not afford him much satisfaction and I dreaded
to cause disappointment : Charles Eliot urged once
the same point, with somewhat more eagerness, and
was seconded by his sister ; and yet I continued to
hesitate, as I was not vain enough to expect that I
could, through these means, persuade them that their
distinguished kindness had been no more than I
deserved : In this case I would soon have passed
the Rubicon. A son reads with quite another
mind.

I do not examine with scrupulous anxiety, if
pride in an honourable ancestry is a venial or deadly
sin ; but this I know, that even when a boy, I felt an
exquisite delight, that I could, that I might call
loudly my ancestors by name ; that I could celebrate
their virtues, their prowess in arms, their great
renown in literature, without apprehension of meet-
ing with obloquy or contradiction. From my Father's
side, the van tier Kemps, the Bax, the van Dron-
gelens^ — from my mother's, the Leydekkers^ the de
Huyberts, the de Witts^ Lords of Haamsteede, with
their numerous alliances, — were so many spurs to
him, in whose breast the last spark of glory was not
extinguished for their emulation.

My worthy Father, educated for a merchant,

' This house dates from the thirteenth century.

'^Of Middelburg, Zealand. A cultured race of whom Melchior
(died 1721) was the most eminent.

^See Kok for the history of this fami'y from the thirteenth
century.

8 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

entered the army in 1745, and was present in the
battles of Lawfelt' [Lauffeld], Roucoux, with the
rencontres 2X Aste and Maiden. He married in 1747
Anna Catharina, only heir of Francis Leydekker,
Receiver-General of Ter Tholen in Zealand, Drossard
of St. Martensdyk, and Helena de Huybert.

I was born in Kampen in Overyssel on May 4,
1752, where the regiment in which my Father served
was then garrisoned. Even when in the cradle, my
good Mother too fondly anticipated that I should
be once devoted to studies, because forsooth ! as she
seriously assured me, when I was unruly I became
soon appeased whenever any books were thrown to
me, but another childish event made a deeper im-
pression upon her. My School Madam, either to
silence our importunate questions, or lure us to her
views, often held out the prospect that she would
treat us with pricken, a species of fish broiled in
butter. When at church, and standing before my
Mother in her pew, the Minister Rev. — Hubert ex-
claimed : " Death, where is thy sting?" (in Dutch
prickel.) I replied : " Pricken broiled in butter are
good, but we eat roast beef and grey peas " ; after
this observation I was silent.

Be these praecocis ingenii prognostics true or false,
one thing is sure, — and this I considered always as a
chief blessing, although I valued it not always as I
ought to have done,and in some cases abused it, — that
unconsciously I gained the good-will and affection
of all around me.

' Near Maestricht.

EARLY YEARS IN HOLLAND. 9

As soon as my Father supposed that I was suffi-
ciently instructed in the Dutch and French languages,
he sent me to a Latin School at Zutphen in Gelder-
land. My progress was rather slow, without any brill-
iant proficiency ; yet when, the 14th January, 1763, I
left the first for the second class, I was rewarded
with Nieupoort de Ritibiis Romafioriini. From Zut-
phen my parents moved to Zwolle in Overyssel,
where I entered once more the first class, and was
gradually advanced to the fourth, although my com-
petitors for the first prize were every time too
powerful. As far as I can recollect, I rose seldom
higher than the third in rank. The Rev. — Serrurier,'
a clergyman of eminent abilities and our nearest
neighbour, told my Mother, that in his opinion I
should never arrive at any eminence as a man of
letters. He advised her to choose another profession.

This insinuation induced my Parents, who could
not brook [the idea] that I should not rise above
mediocrity, in part to accept the proffer of plac-
ing me as Cadet in a company of Infantry,'' in the
Regiment of Holtein Gottorp, in the year 1764,
without however discontinuing my application to
the Greek and Latin languages. In 1766, I took the
same station in my Father's regiment,' when we
removed from Zwolle to Bois-le-Duc ; where I once
more entered the third class, was encouraged to

'Jan Jacob (b. 1727) descended from a race of preachers, was
minister at Zwolle, and later at The Hague.
'Captain Muntz's.
^ Of Cavalry, of Lieutenant-General de Famars.

10 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

further progress in Greek and Latin Literature in 1 768
with the prize of Sanctii Minerva Perisonii, and in
1769 with Biinnanii Poeviata in 4to, when 1 entered
the last class : while I received at the same time priv-
ate instructions by Professor Chaufepie' in Greek,
and by Professor de Witt in the rudiments of Hebrew,
as my Father seriously hoped, that he might devote
me to the Church, and fostered warm prejudices
about the name of van der Kemp — as if talents were
an heritage ! It weighed much with this worthy man
that he could not perceive any predilection for a mil-
itary life, and he presumed to predict that a contem-
plative one would be more congenial to my character.
In this he was confirmed by the following event, at
least he was pleased to give it this explanation.

An encampment, which was ordered in 1769, would
have been a serious and expensive obstruction to my
studies, and useless if I quitted the military career;
but my Father peremptorily declined to intercede in
my favor, to obtain an exemption ; he could not
brook a refusal, and would not ask it of the Prince
of Hesse," but left it willingly to me to act as I
deemed proper. I paid then a visit to his Highness,
solicited the boon, and on his abrupt repulse in-
stantly requested my dismission from service, which
I obtained. Scarcely had I returned under the pa-

' George Abraham, minister of French church at 'S Bosch, where
in 1760 he was made Professor in Greek at the " Illustre School."
Died 1773.

"^ Frederik, Prince of Hessen-Cassel (1747-1837), son of Frederik and
Maria, daughter of George II.; in April, 1768, " General Major" of
Cavalry.

EARLY YEARS IN HOLLAND. II

ternal roof, than, in answer to the questions of my
Father on the result, I threw my miHtary accoutre-
ments on the floor, and told him I had obtained my
dismission. I went nevertheless with my Father's
consent to the encampment for a few days, and paid
there my respects to the same Prince, who asked me
with a sneer, if this visit did not interfere with my
studies. "It would have done so, Prince! had I
complied with your Highness's commands, to make a
sacrifice of so many months as I now do of days, to
witness the gallantry of your valiant regiment."

In the examination of the summer season in 1770, I
received [a prize] Jjinius dc Pictiira Vctcrnui,7x.\\d. was
deemed by the Regents qualified for the University.

I left my paternal home in August, 1770, for Gro-
ningen's University,' and devoted the two first years
to the elementary studies, hearing the lectures of Pro-
fessor Jac. de Rhoer^ in Latin and Greek; Professor
Nic. Schroeder^ in Oriental languages, and Le Sage
Ten Broek and Widder in philosophy, viz. Meta-
physicks. Natural History, Cosmology, neglecting
too much the Mathesis, of which I afterwards could
only obtain a very superficial knowledge. Besides
these important occupations I received private in-
struction in the English and Italian languages, being
already deep enough initiated in the French and Ger-
man to draw benefit from their authors. Serrurier's

' He spent four years there.
"^ 1720-1813. Famous in his day.

^ Nicolaas Willem (1729-1798). "This great man was known
everywhere as the Arabian."

12 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

ominous prediction, and my determination to leave
nothing untried, to soar if possible above medioc-
rity, made me exert all my strength with a view to
conquer.

Ere long my health was impaired by chemical
experiments, by extravagant studies, allowing myself
but seldom five hours rest, often contented with
two and three, often taking no rest at all. A seem-
ingly broken constitution was now further shaken
by alarming convulsions, but Professor Camper's '
art, and my listening to his advice, restored me to
health. I now studied standing at the desk, took
more rest, and recovered perfectly. I had provided
me with a library rather more voluminous and ele-
gant than my situation permitted or required, my
Uncle 'S Gravezande 2 instilling continually in my
mind, " Beware of the man who studies a few books,
makes a choice of the best, and uses these night and
day." But I was careful to arm myself at the end
of every year with recommendations of my profess-
ors, which I obtained liberally and often unsolicited,
with high encomiums of other friends ; and this
failed not to atone for my excesses in spending far
more than was convenient in my situation.

My Father died January 27, 1772. This was a
doleful event indeed, losing in him a tender Father
and affectionate friend, whose worth was valued by
all who knew him. My mother's situation, bereft

' Petrus (1722-1789). A distinguished man, In 1763 made pro-
fessor at Groningen of medicine, surgery, and botany.

* Adrianus. Preacher at Asperen. His wife was Anthonia van der
Kemp, sister of John.

EARLY YEARS IN HOLLAND. 1 3

by his death of this support, obliged her to a yet
more rigid economy, which however had before been
her constant practice, and compelled her to submit
to my dependence on my Uncle chiefly, to provide
for the future expenses of my studies.

In the third year of my studies I tacked to my
former studies a course of lectures in botany by Pro-
fessor Camper, early in the morning before breakfast,
that of Ecclesiastical History under Professor Paul
Chevalier and those of the famous van der Marck ' on
Ecclesiastical Laws and the Laws of Nature.

I was prompted to this outstep, as I doubted if
I could finally enter the sacred fold ; but if so, both
these branches were useful to any clergyman. Some
of my connections among the military young men,
my former comrades in my classic studies, had been
initiated in the mysteries of the Deistical school. As
their conversations and the writings of their admired
Authors were pleasing to the imagination, embel-
lished by taste and brilliancy of wit, I devoured
these with greediness ; and as I was not imbued
with a solid knowledge of the Christian Revelation,
I was dazzled and misled by their fair appearance,
by their sophisms, through want of fixed principles
before I perceived it. To this was joined a deep
hatred of the clerical hierarchy and their continued
usurpations, while their persecuting zeal threw me
ere long off my guard and made me enter the ranks
of their opponents.

Associating with young men of the first families
^ Frederik Adolph (i 719-1800).

14 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

in the Republic, of the nobility as well as gentry,
arguing in public theses against the dominion of
the clergy, their rage was soon raised to the highest
pitch. It was in vain that my friends and patrons
pleaded my cause and palliated my imprudence ; I
was to them a reprobate old in sin though young in
years. In some respects I am in duty bound to
acknowledge, they treated me with condescending
kindness, inviting me, often directly, more however
through their children and relatives to their houses, in
the hope, as they protested, to save me. It is true
they had no reason to complain of my conduct.
Although prudence was not always my guide, yet
my errors were unknown ; my intimacy with the best
of their students was in my favour ; it was rather a
deep rooted hatred towards Professor van der Marck,
than a well pointed enmity towards me. They com-
plained of me to my Uncle, drew me before an
Ecclesiastical tribunal of professors and ministers,
and threatened that I should become ere long an
outcast and be treated as such, if I did not abandon
the lectures of van der Marck, with the company of
my associates, purify my library, and renew my
former course and studies, in conformity to the
wishes of my relatives; then I should be cordially
received, then again be favoured with their protecting
care.

Rejecting all proposals of reconciliation on such
terms with disdain, unwilling to give up my Master's
cause, though that good man urged me to comply,
seeing I had no prospect whatever of being sup-

EARLY YEARS IN HOLLAND. I 5

ported by my relatives, I resolved to sell my library,
a few select books excepted, to pay my debts, and
'maintain myself in independence a while longer.
This plan I executed as soon as the catalogue could
be printed, devoted myself entirely to the study of
the political state of my country, chiefly its Jus
Publictcm, its customs, usages and form of govern-
ment, resolved to abstain from my usual dinner at
the ordinary, and contented myself with bread,
butter and cheese, and a glass of wine, with which I
was provided, as I could not stoop to continue, as
my comrades solicited, to take the same fare with
them in a public house, at their expense. My pa-
trons among the professors continued to favour me,
even some who disapproved or lamented my way-
wardness, by which they without intending it en-
couraged me to proceed.

Several of the first families, the Ladies Mancel
van Birum, the Goekingas, Turck, Feldman, the
Revs. — Blaeu and Jansonius continued to favour me
with their kindnesses, while the first of these ma-
trons opened me liberally her purse ; while Professor
Paulus Chevalier, to prevent the scandal which he
said he dreaded from a public sale, bought my col-
lection of French Deistical writers. I need not to
insinuate that I was impeccable ; you could not be-
lieve it did I make such an attempt, my passions
were violent and too often indulged, but more than
once I was wonderfully spared. I owed their good
will chiefly to their noble and generous minds, and
in some respects to my unrelenting endeavours to

1 6 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

save an outward decorum, to be courteous and con-
descending towards superiors, more so toward the
females, firm and daring among my equals, kind to
servants, and devoting nights and days, when not
given to pleasure, to my studies.

I wrote now a warm defence of my Master against
the clergy, and published the fruits of my leisure
hours, a small essay entitled My Amusements, re-
printed in 1777. I could not fix on a plan, and re-
mained thus in a critical state of suspense. My
young friends, many of the first families and nobility,
but without the means to assist me, wished that I
should endeavour to reconcile my relatives to obtain
of them the permission to study the law, but I knew
this was in vain, except the respectable clergy had
been willing to support my entreaties; but this body
was then too much exasperated to expect from it
such a condescension. I had formed already many
connections with learned characters in Holland,
chiefly among the Remonstrants, and entered into
correspondence with the Rev. Joshua Toulmin' at
Taunton, to whom I had been recommended by the
Rev. Sowden of Rotterdam.

From all these I received wise and salutary ad-
vices, but no effectual aid. At this period I received
an offer of a civil employ at St. George Delmina on

1 Born 1740. Baptist Minister at Taunton, England, later a Socin-
ian, and Minister in the New Meeting, Birmingham, 1804." — " Last
week's London letter informed me of the death of my oldest friend.
Dr. Joshua Toulmin, since 1772 a guide of my youth, and since my
constant warm friend. MS. letter to Adams, Jan. 9, 1816.

EARLY YEARS IN HOLLAND. 1/

the African coast, on the recommendation of Professor
van der Marck. Shortly after another to go with a
young gentleman as his Governour to the West
Indies ; and, at the same time a generous proposal,
to continue my studies in Divinity at the Seminary
of the Remonstrants at Amsterdam, with the assur-
ance that in all my expenses should be provided.
However flattering the latter was, however warmly
seconded by disinterested advisers, I found myself
compelled to decline it because one of the great
pretended crimes of my Master was, that he was an
Arminian, that he instilled those principles into his
students, because it would have been considered as
a proof of their accusation, and because I would not
hurt the keenest feelings of my nearest relatives,
who in many respects remained dear to my heart.
I knew myself too well to accept the guidance of
a youth, when I was scarce to be trusted to regulate
my own conduct.

The inhospitable coast of Delmina seemed now
my only refuge when it struck my mind, that the
Baptists at Amsterdam were reputed to be of exten-
sive liberal principles, that I was intimate with some
wealthy and learned members of this community,
Professor Oosterbaen at Amsterdam, the Rev. John
Stinstra at Harlingen, and, through his recommend-
ation, with the family of Hoofman at Haerlem. I re-
solved then to open my mind to ProfessorOosterbaen,
ask him for support to promote my studies at Am-
sterdam in their Seminary, " z/ I could be admitted
without compromising myself in any manner, without

1 8 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

constraint to any religious opinions I might foster
or adopt in future, and with a full assurance, that
I should be decently supported "; all which was gen-
erously accepted, and Oosterbaen actually acted and
proved himself to me a friend and benefactor, a guide
and father.

I left thus Groningen to remain, during the va-
cancy, at the University of Franeker, being there
gratified with the rooms and library of my friend
Chaudoir, then a candidate of the Gallican Church,
and on a visit to his parents.

I left that place in September, 1773, for Amster-
dam, to enter on a new course of studies among the
Baptists. As soon as I was arrived at the rooms
procured for me by Professor Oosterbaen, with my
small though select library augmented with a few
authors indispensably required, I resolved seriously
to begin my inquiry in the truth and nature of the
Christian Revelation. Armed with the necessary
knowledge of ancient and modern history, civil and
ecclesiastical, with church antiquities and a tolerable
supply of classic literature, I endeavoured to lay
aside all preconceived prejudices, and desired with
sincerity to discover the truth ; at least I imagined
myself to be in this mood, and believe yet that it
was so.

I remained in my study and continued my in-
quiries night and day, taking no more rest than was
imperiously required, and was within a short time,
fully convinced of the historical truth of the Chris-
tian revelation. Having re-examined the whole

EARLY YEARS IN HOLLAND. I9

chain of arguments, no doubt remained lurking in
my breast ; but the grand question remained, " What
is the Christian religion ? Shall I learn it from the
lectures of Professor Oosterbaen, a man so learned,
so pious, so generous towards me, and preach to
others the doctrine which* he has examined and
adopted as true?" To this I could not submit;
my heart revolted at the idea of such a slavery : I
took some time to consider this important subject.
It was clear if I might not implicitly trust Professor
Oosterbaen, as an infallible guide with all his mental
endowments, then, still less I ought to trust to dog-
matical writers, of whatever authority they might be
deemed in any church. I ought thus, this only
remained, to examine for myself. I took it for
granted, and am not yet undeceived, if I was then
in an error, I took it for a truth, that if the Christian
Revelation is from God, then any one, even of the
meanest understanding, with a sincere heart, may,
vuist be able to discover God's will, viz. what he is to
do and to believe for his salvation.

On this ground I took the New Testament in Greek
in hand, resolved to pass by all which I did not under-
stand at first view. So I read the New Testament,
I mean the Evangelists and Acts, again and again,
until I was convinced that Jesus came into the world
to bring life and immortality to light, which was un-
discoverable by the light of reason ; that a merciful
God required from frail creatures sincerity of heart
and genuine repentance; that to love Him and one's
neighbour was the summary of the doctrine of Jesus,

20 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

the true characteristics of the genuine believer; and
that it was the will of our Heavenly Father that all
His children should be saved. I did not discover,
neither searched for, the dogmas of Calvin, Socinus,
Arminius, or Menno ; neither cared much about these
matters except in a literary point of view; and so and
not further did I intend to pay any attention to them.
I explained myself faithfully and with candour to my
friend, and deemed it a duty in my situation to make
a public profession of my religious principles, and
received baptism at Amsterdam from the worthy
van Heiningen in November, 1773.'

I punctually attended during two years the lectures
of Professor Oosterbaen and van der Marck in the-
ology and of D. Wyttenbach in the Greek language;
while I only devoted a small portion of my time to
Mathematics, in which I was unsuccessful. About
this time I entered in correspondence with several
learned men in Germany, among others with Spald-
ing and Dam at Berlin, Arnoldi at Herborn, Faber
at Berg-Zabern, Zlapfer at Zurich, and Lazar de
Torotske at Clausenberg in Transylvania.

On the i8th December, 1775, I was admitted
as a candidate of the sacred ministry, received a call
in the city of Ter Goes in Zealand, ist May, 1776;
on the 3rd of June another in the village of Makkum

' " The Baptists of the Netherlands never had power, never could
aim at it, by their tenets, they must not, cannot be confounded with
the Anabaptists of Munster and Germany who were fanatics."

MS. letter to Adams, Aug. ii, 1812.

" I joined the Baptists' meeting at the Tower and Lamb, at-
tracted by their toleration." — MS., Genealogy.

EARLY YEARS IN HOLLAND. 21

in Friesland, both which I declined; on the 25th
of July that of Huyzen in Holland, and on the ist
of August that of West Zaandam were offered, the
former of which I accepted ; entering shortly after
on my ministerial career, when I preached from ist
Cor. X., 15. It was indeed a pleasant situation not
far from the sea-coast ; my parishioners, fishermen
and farmers, most of them in easy circumstances, the
members of my consistory well instructed men, and
all bent with eagerness to render my abode with
them comfortable. Here I translated although in
part only, Ganganelli's Letters, upon the advice of
my friend Oosterbaen, who by this work intended to
ameliorate my situation ; but this good man was
obliged ere long to take the whole burden on him-
self, while he allowed me the full benefit of his work;
" Although you cannot submit to the drudgery, you
shall not destroy my good intention," he said.

On the 7th of December I received an invitation
from the congregation at Aerdenberg in Flanders, if
I inclined to come thither. The 30th of July next I
was requested to preach at Leyden and the 4th of
August at Middelburg in Zealand, and was chosen
as minister in the congregation at Leyden on the ist
of October where I began my ministerial labours on
the 13th of November with my inaugural sermon on
Rom. i., 20.

My cousin Didericus van der Kemp ' was a Pro-
fessor of Divinity in the University, and although a

' 1 731-1780. Son of Cornells and grandson of Johannes, both
clergymen. The famous Jean Theodore van der Kemp of Rotterdam,

22 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

man of the most amiable character was one of the
chiefs of the orthodox party, and had entered the
h'sts with Professor Bonnet of Utrecht against
Goodricke to oppose liberal principles, and destroy
tolerantism within the pale of the church. He was
affable and courteous towards me, as well as to all
out of the boundaries, but would not commune with
a doubtful brother; he said he approved my sincerity
but lamented my errors : they were the offspring — it
was revived — of van der Marck's tuition. There was
an immense conflux at my inaugural discourse of all
ranks and classes. I did not give offence, except
that a few old members of my congregation shud-
dered, when I told them that my Father followed the
army, and that I served in it during five years. The
Dutch Baptists condemn the use of arms in any case.
It was not long ere I had a serious struggle with
my consistory. Through neglect or carelessness the
disposal and management of an institution for pious
purposes, in behalf of the poor of the church, had
been lost, or surrendered to the Magistracy and a

cavalry officer, physician, and at last missionary and founder of
Bethelsdorp in Africa, was a brother of Didericus, as was also
Johannes Cornelis of Leyden.

Chalmot in some points confounds van der Kemp with his cousin
Theodorus, who publicly disclaimed Francis Adrian's politics, and
with whom the latter differed equally in religion.

" I knew him well. He was a man of vast learning and profound
mind, . . . and surprising talents, ... by which I often have
been benefited. I cannot envy the situation of his last years. . . .
There has been a striking . . . coincidence in many respects of
our lives, and we may at length arrive at the same goal by a different
course. . . ." — MS. letter to Lincklaen, Apr. 8, 1816.

EARLY YEARS IN HOLLAND. 23

wealthy family of my congregation. I urged, long
in vain, that this property ought to be restored, that
it was a duty; at length I told them I should do it,
and leave no stone unturned till I had recovered the
possession, and restored to the church its inalienable
rights. I was on a good footing with the Pensionary
of the city, the Hon. Mr. van Royen, and intimate
with Peter Vreede, whose Father made this encroach-
ment ; while he was dying, I would not embitter his
last moments; but no sooner was he gone to his
Fathers, than I renewed with increased ardour my
enterprise and saw it crowned with full success, when
the full consistory could not but thank me, though
not with the best grace. They dared to propose to
me the subscription of formularies and a creed,
which all their former ministers had complied with ;
my colleague seconded the importune demands of
the large majority ; two only supported me. One
session followed the other. Reasoning, ridicule, all
was employed, long in vain, till at length having
exhausted their patience, and convinced of my
unwillingness to give way one single hair-breadth,
one and another from time to time leaving their
side, all submitted to annul forever tlie articles of
subscription.'

' "To-day the Mennonites have no test, no church, no rite, no
clergy, but fraternities, in wliich the minister is the ' voorganger ' or
leader, though his education, social position, and general duties are
like those of all Protestant ministers. In Amsterdam they have their
own seminary and their Professors are much honoured, their teaching
appeals not only to the religious, but very strongly to the ethical and
moral tendencies of humanity." — Dutch Life in Totuii and Country,
p. 243-

24 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

I dare say I made no abuse of my success, by
which I gained the good-will of my colleague, and
many of his adherents, who regretted that I was not
cast in a more serious mould, and to appearances,
and in reality too worldly minded.

Several circumstances concurred by which at this
period my political connections were renewed, and
first in Holland, soon in the other Provinces; among
these with van Berckel,' Paulus," de Gyzelaer," and
Baron van der Capellen tot den Pol.

' Engelbert Fran9ois van Berckel; or his brother Pieter Johan
van Berckel, the first Minister from the United Provinces to the
United States, who died at Newark, New Jersey, October 27, 1800.

"Pieter Paulus. Born 1754. A Dutch statesman " avocat at
conseiller fiscal de I'Amiraute de le Meuse." In two years he
brought the Dutch navy up from its ruins to forty ships of the line,
all nearly new. He was dismissed from office in 1787 in spite of his
high standing. He went to Versailles, and was received with dis-
tinction. Returning to Holland he held many offices after the fall of
the Stadtholderate, until his death in 1796. His best known work is
that on the Union of Utrecht. See Michaud.

"Cornells de Gyzelaer, 1751-1815. Pensionary of Dort from
1779 till the revolution of September, 1787. He was in Amsterdam
when the Prussians captured the city; afterwards remained for some
time in Harlem, and then went to Brussels with his family. In 1799
he returned to Holland, and lived at Leyden until his death.

" M. Gyzelaer [Pensionary of DortJ is a young gentleman of about
thirty; but of a genius and activity, a candour and prudence, which, if
his health is not too delicate, must make him the man of the first
consideration in this Republic. I am happy in a friendly and
familiar acquaintance with him, and shall certainly continue it, because
his abilities and integrity, his industry, his great and growing popu-
larity, and his influence in the Assembly of the States of Holland, as
well as in all the Provinces and cities, will render him an important
man, in spite of all the opposition of the Court." — Adams to Living-
ston, Sept. 4, 1782. Dip. Corres., vol. iii., p. 637.

II.

POLITICAL WORK AND FRIEND-
SHIPS.

WHEN van der Kemp first met Capellen
of Pol is not known, but he was the
bosom friend of that nobleman, of whom he
says that he laid his whole soul open to him,
consulted him in everything, and confided to
him his most secret plans.^ Long years after
he brought with him to America the portrait
of Baron Johan Derk, as also one of Baron
Robert Jaspar van der Capellen of Marsch in
Gelderland, his cousin. Both were of that
House of Capellen^ which is said to have
taken its name from the Chaplains, or Capel-
lani, of the Court of France. By the twelfth
century many branches were living in the
Netherlands. Its annals, reaching back during

' See Hartog, Uit de dagcn der Patriotten, p. 55. ' See Kok.
25

26 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

seven hundred years, recall Motley's simile
of some well-kept tapestry, crowded with an-
tique figures upon a background of mediaeval
town and country, for here are Cunegondas
and Enguerrands, Priors, Abbesses, owners
of much land in the Cleves and Guelders
country, knights summoned against the com-
mon enemy, slain in the wars, abjuring the
King of Spain, signing the Union of Utrecht,
Knights of Malta — each and all bearing the
arms "with the chapel on the cross." The
earliest known ancestor was Hendrik, a power-
ful and distinguished Knight, a.d. 1287, whose
children had possessions in the land of Cleves,
and his great-grandson Gerlach when he left
his father's house in 1378 to dwell in Zutphen,
received from his relatives as a parting re-
membrance a drinking cup in the form of a
silver-gilt chapel, which descended in his family
until, in 1572, it was lost at the sacking of the
city by the younger Alva.

Gerlach married a daughter of the old
and noble family of van der Marsch, of the
House of Marsch near Zutphen, and founded

POLITICAL WORK AND FRIENDSHIPS. 2/

the Zutphen branch of the van der Capellen
family.

Four generations more, of men holding posts
of honour, and we come to another Gerlach,
Burgomaster of Zutphen in 1505, and to the
opening times of the " Spanish Tyranny," and
find one "who walked in the footsteps of his
fathers and ancestors," Hendrik of Overyssel,
a defender of the faith and liberty of his
Fatherland, for forty years Burgomaster of
Zutphen, signing at the head of the magistracy
of that city the Union of Utrecht. So well did
he serve his country — so well did he garrison
his city — that when, for the first time after
his death in 1582, Zutphen fell into the enemy's
hands, they not only " razed his ancestral
houses in the Water Street," confiscated his
property and proscribed his memory, but were
hardly restrained from tearing his body from its
grave in the great church at Zutphen, where
at the age of seventy-six years he had been
gathered to his fathers.

The youth of his eldest son Gerlach, born in
1543, was in the peaceful times before the

28 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

troubles. He studied at Cologne, Geneva,
Basel, Heidelberg, and Rome, then " returned
to his Fatherland in Peril " at the outbreak of
hostilities, when he was twenty-five years of
age. For more than fifty years to come he
was to risk his life in the great cause in which
Hendrik had yet fourteen years to serve.

Neither father nor son regarded life or for-
tune except so far as bloed en geld might serve
their country in her mighty struggle for civil
and religious liberty. In his eighty-second
year Gerlach, too, was buried in the great
church, — the beautiful St. Walburga Kerk ^ —
of Zutphen, having outlived all his country-
men of Gelderland, who went hand in hand
with him in the founding of the Republic.

The lot of his son Alexander fell in more
peaceful times. He too was a man of learn-
ing— a student at Leyden of great attainments.
Living long in France, he was entrusted with
the conduct of many diplomatic affairs, but

' Many of the Capellens rest here, but the monuments to Hendrik
and Gerlach and the grave where the former lies, found by accident in
i8g5, were shown with especial interest by the custodian, G. J. Meme-
link. in i8q6.

then " retu. ..
. _ ■ the outbreak rf

«; was twenty-1
ipre than fifty years to con
lis life in the great cause in which
1 yet fourteen
\ ,or son le or tor-

tunv'; except so tar as bloeci ' ' serve

their country in b^r —'■ '^ i-r civil

and rrXxcA.Alexander van dcr Capellen.. -rond

vear 'i

utphen

as a man

iL
Irik

POLITICAL WORK AND FRIENDSHIPS. 29

greater interest lies for us in the fact that his
elder brother Hendrik sig^ned on behalf of the
West India Company Peter Stuyvesant's com-
mission as Director of New Netherland, and
both brothers through their purchase of Staten
Island and also of " land of the Navesinck and
Raritans " ^ made what proved to be the " last
effort to plant colonies under Patroons in
America," ~ and first linked the name of van
der Capellen with our own country more than
two hundred years ago.

So as we approach the eighteenth century,
the family in all its branches, in its twelfth re-
corded generation, holds its own. The men
are still in the military or diplomatic service,
their brides still have goodly dowries, like
Ermengarde de Landas, who brings to the
grandfather of Baron van der Capellen " Ap-
peltern" and "Altforst," lying in their beauti-
ful pasture grounds in the Maaswaal, while
among the sixteen quarterings of their son
Frederik, who rests in the great church of

' See Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of
New York, vol. i., p. 493; vol. xiv., pp., 168, 393.

'See Schuyler's Colonial New York, vol. i., pp. 21, 24, et seq.

30 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

Arnheim, are the arms of the House of Bre-
derode, proverbially the most noble in the
land. Nor was Johan Derk, the child of Fred-
erik borne to him by his wife- Elizabeth van
Bassenn, to prove himself unworthy of the
line of which he was later believed to be so
proud.

Robert Jaspar, his cousin, was descended
from the same paternal great-grandfather, and
was known as Baron van der Capellen of Marsch
and Lathmer. He studied at the University
of Utrecht at the same time with Johan Derk,
where their close intimacy ripened into what
was to be a lifelong friendship. These two
young nobles in the gay dress, and doubtless
of the gay carriage, of the pruiken-tyd, seem
in their sense of political responsibility grave
beyond their years, though both came natur-
ally through training and tradition by their
liberal ideas.

Resolving, whatever Neptune might ordain,
to keep their rudder true, to oppose despotism
at whatever cost, the young pilots carefully
studied the principles of government, a share in

'119, wife-EHza^
By ■ iworthx

1 he was later believed to be so

Robert Jaspa was descended

irom the same pat€

"^^^^Mn^oMPDh'k vanddi^ mpelleiibfPoL

and \f^^^^i^'^ving%\ouiyhl to America hy^FyAy^'nh-^'ddr-Wi^ff.

\ i'

years.

training

a.iiu Lrcicp
Neptu

to ke^.^

le, to o

hatever

younjy

studied the [

I share in

POLITICAL WORK AND FRIENDSHIPS. 3 I

which, in the ordinary course of things, would
soon be entrusted to them in their respective
State Assembhes.

On the most elaborated page in Johan
Derk's Liber Amicortim which has come
down from those boyish days, is a finished
little coloured drawing of two hands clasped
over an altar, with the Capellen arms on its
base, and the date of 1762, It is needless to
translate the motto, the quotation, the senti-
ment ; all breathe eternal friendship, for the
name below is " R. J. van der Capellen."

But there had evidently been time for mak-
ing other friends under the green domes of the
lime-trees of the Maliebaan, or by the precincts
of the University. The Liber Antic or um zon-
tains the names of nearly forty students, all
written at Traj : ad R hen., between the dates
of March, 1760, and November, 1764, each
under a sentiment, and a quotation flanked by
a motto, usually in Latin.

Among its pages is one signed by Baron
Robert Jaspar's brother, Alexander Philip van
der Capellen, who was later to die a martyr to

32 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

the Patriot cause. Other names are there,
which afterwards became known in the Patriot
annals — but none were written in the Httle
book after 1 764.

Johan Derk van der Capellen was more
closely allied than Robert Jaspar with van der
Kemp during that turbulent revolutionary
"patriot-time preceding the Prussian invasion,
when no man was more talked of, more hated,
more loved than he." The liberal cause so
dear to his heart was for a time to be strangely
interwoven with that of the United States.
In three distinct emergencies Baron Johan
Derk served us well, and the course of his
short life should not be without interest for
Americans.

He was born at Tiel, November 2, 1741,
the eldest son of Frederik Jacob van der
Capellen, Major of Infantry, and his wife
Anna Elizabeth, daughter of Dirck Reinier
van Bassenn, " of an old and noble race, which,
unlike most of the Guelder families, and espec-
ially those of the Ridders of the Veluwe, was
not one of the pillars of the House of Orange."

POLITICAL WORK AND FRIENDSHIPS. 33

Thus the storms of van Bassenn's public life,
when he stood for " the old privileges," had
made it a short one, and he found it better to
leave Arnheim and spend the many years
remaining to him in a new home at Tiel.

Here his daughter was married, and here her
husband left her and her children to spare them
the changes of garrison life. Celebrated as
van Bassenn was for the breadth of his know-
ledge, the delight and instruction of his daily
companionship, it was well that his grandson's
education was entrusted to him. This inter-
course with a man of seventy to whom a child
has learned to look up, and whose chief interests
and studies were in the history of his country,
easily influenced Johan Derk's life, though he
seems to have been under his immediate care
for a few years only.

After 1752 the lad spent six years going
through the Cursus of the Latin School of
Bois-le-Duc. Not fond of Latin and Greek,
but standing well, he next studied at Utrecht.
In days to come he was deeply to regret the
neglect of his opportunities here, which by

34 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

1763 were at an end. He now found himself
with weak health, unformed plans, and no
home, since his father, then established as
a country gentleman at Appeltern, strangely-
enough kept him aloof, and he lived first with
one, then with another, of his many relatives.
For a young Gelderland noble who, besides
being no great scholar, had no taste for the
army or the court, nor could follow his bent
for the navy, " life on an estate was in the mid-
dle of the eighteenth century the indicated fu-
ture, and for that was required, almost as a sine
qua non, a wife." In 1 765 he asked his father's
consent to his betrothal with the Fretile of
Wittenstein, Hillegonda Anna, daughter of
Hendrik Willem Bentinck, which after much
ado, and with little money, was finally granted.
The marriage took place on June 4, 1766, and
the first years thereafter were spent chiefly at
Wittenstein/ where he resumed his neglected
studies.

It is said that while recognising political
duty he showed as yet no turn for political life.

■ Still standing in the Kamperveen.

POLITICAL WORK AND FRIENDSHIPS. 35

Yet it is recorded that he early took steps to
enter the Ridderschap and the Upper House
of the States of Zutphen, but, this faiHng, he
decided to enter the Ridderschap of Overyssel,
quahfied by his birth, and his fulfilment of all
requirements, that of a " Knightly estate " be-
ing met by his ownership of Bredenhorst
(later exchanged for that of Pol), to complete
the purchase of which he had to borrow money.
The opposition to his claim was silenced by
the Stadtholder's support, and two years after
his first request, October 22, 1772, he was re-
ceived as Regent into the Ridderschap of
Overyssel. While up to 1 768 he had scarcely
chosen his party, since that time he had read
English philosophy and statecraft, Hume,
Kames, Locke, Priestley's political writings,
and Hutcheson's, had taken stronger hold of
liberal principles, and had determined " to try
to bring about an open and plain opposition, a
necessity in every State." Thus the aston-
ished Stadtholder found in him no partisan,
but one who in his very presence and in his
maiden speech opposed his Highness's policy

36 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

of the increase of the standing army apart
from that of the navy, and also the influence
of the detested Duke of Brunswick-Wolfen-
buttel.^

Two years later, there arose a burning
question of foreign policy. As he had come
to believe in the theory of the omnipotence of
the people and the holiness of their rights, so
" he had lost no occasion to keep pace with
the obstinate contest of England and her
American colonies." It now happened that
the States of Overyssel were called upon to
cast a decisive vote in a measure affecting
the most important event of the eighteenth
century, the rise of the United States. Van
der Capellen boldly struck his first blow for
this cause, when on the sixteenth of December,
1775, si^ months before the Declaration of
Independence, he delivered his famous speech
opposing the government measure of the

' The Duke of Brunswick- Wolfenbuttel had been the Governor of
the Prince, and later received carte-blanche under a formal instru-
ment, drawn up by van Bleiswyck, and signed by William, to assist
him in military and other affairs. He left his prince-pupil only a
shadow of power, and directed all for eighteen years in the Stadt-
holder's name and in the English interest. See De Witt.

POLITICAL WORK AND FRIENDSHIPS. 37

" Lending of the Scotch Brigade to the King
of E no-land for service in America, as a mark
of friendship."

Readers of JVaverley may remember in My
Aiint Alargarcf s Mii-ror, the account of Cap-
tain Falconer of the " Scotch Dutch as they
were called," who went to the High Church in
Rotterdam in company with " two or three
officers of the Scotch Brigade." So too,
Evelyn, on July i8, 1685, "went to see the
muster of the six Scotch and Enorlish re^i-
ments whom the Prince of Orange had lately
sent to his Majesty out of Holland upon this
rebellion, but which were now returning, there
having been no occasion for their use."

It was the same Scotch Brigade that now,
in 1775, his Britannic Majesty again sum-
moned from among- the foreign mercenaries
employed in the Dutch army, as had been
the custom since the middle of the fourteenth
century. For a hundred years the relations
between the United Provinces and Great Brit-
ain had been those of master and slave,' and

' Adams.

38 ■ FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

it was a fierce tide which Capellen breasted
when, in the Collegie, the old Franciscan
cloister^ in quiet Kampen where in that year
the States of Overyssel met, " he opposed
with all his endeavours " this demand, set
forth in an autograph letter from King George
to William V,, for troops to be sent against
the American colonies, and when he declared
in his speech that whatever might be the ult-
imate fate of the colonies he would always
regard it as a glory and an honour openly to
have protected in his public character their
cause, which he still regarded as that of all
the human kind. This speech caused only " a
great sensation " yet when the Brigade was at
last lent the King, it was upon the condition it
should not be used " out of Europe."^

In the face of the Stadtholder's already
grave displeasure, Capellen had the temerity
to print this speech, all of which made a great
stir. The States of Overyssel three months
later struck it from their records. " They

' Now torn down. A school stands in its place.
"^ Brieven, p. 62.

Jveryssel met, "he ,
deavours " this demand.
in autograph letter from King George

!j > WilJiam " troops ent against

the American colonies, and le declared

in his speech that what^^ the ult-

imate fate of thf rfM-MV, . alway^^

re.Q2sS^ii^^^^ of Speecil against Leiidm^'^h^^Scotck
have i>roU:r&'^f^^^^r^^^'"^^^ i7i Amerwa.-
^nic.-. which he "till r
man k

^, It was uj

od '• out of

)f the Stadti

to y^n Hit -.

■, Capellen '

Stir. Th'.

later struck

' Biu

<c(iool sta'.

aths

They

A D V I S

POOR

JOIIAN DERK BARON van der CAPELLEN

a t i; R V / N DEN

rr^'l"-. . ■. ■ :■ . Ru-^JcrJ>bnp v^K Ovrrysfil.

Over lict \''civx)ck \m Z\nc Majesteit den Koning
\an (t r o (vr - B r I t t a n n r e ;

Cm c!s eer, hlyk v.t>! v>igr.dh:hii!: , cr. ^eenpMS nit boofde van fenlgf

fi'bjiiieerefds TraUaaten of VerbindUnijjen , ivelhen daar ioe zouden

'•''/'•'(>•'-■"» Ivl.Orfs in Jisnfi v,:,'! Hun Hoog Mogenden,

kiend aukr d.^n tt.him c-.7« a'c? Schotjche Brigade,

/■.• JrfKi'i^ ^eor eeu /v.,' ic' './../rv rc'gffi eii dit

■ 'i/;iffn:,'t' < '< i ///uVi- in

.1»n'r!tuuf}J]:L ^ .... lioo^fi-

,.\s'^flfs dieiijl. enjehrj ie. i.jcii oveigaan.

Co cier. ' ;', Pocc'.nber 1775. tcr Vcrgadering van Ridderschap en

Svi-^ii ;•: 1 ;- '^TAATENVAN OvERYJsEL liitgebragt, Cn 111 de

NvJiulcn i':cr Provincic gcVnferccrd.

T 1.. A j\l S T E T. D A M,
]•>' FRANS IILNDIUK DEMTER, I3oekverkopcr in dc Pylfteeg.

POLITICAL WORK AND FRIENDSHIPS. 39

first disposed of my speech," said he later,
"they next disposed of me." But he had the
gratification to hear from America, for Gov-
ernor Trumbull of Connecticut, with the presi-
dent and members of the honourable Congress,
sent throupfh Erkelens an enclosed letter of
thanks, " and many private citizens from all
parts of the country ask me to send you their
hearty thanks also." ^

Capellen replied to Trumbull as follows :

Quant k votre obligeante lettre, que Mon-
sieur Erkelens me dit m'etre envoiee aussi k la
requisition du President et des Membres de I'honor-
able Congress — soyez persuade, Monsieur, que de-
posee parmi mes chartres, elle me sera a jamais plus
precieuse que I'ordre de la chevalerie la plus brillante
dont quelque Monarque que ce soit, auroit pu me
decorer. Mes Ancetres ont de tems immemorial
figure dans nombre de Corps et Chapitres nobles.
Ma Maison a donn6 de Chevaliers k Malthe et k
rOrdre Teutonique ; mais ce temoignage de I'appro-
bation dont il plait au Peuple Americain d'honorer
mes efforts, bien intentionnes, mais foibles en effet
pour lui ^tre utile, me vaut plus que tout cela. Ma
posterity, si Dieu m'en donne, ne manquera pas de
s'en glorifier. C'est mon cceur qui parle. II se sent

' Brievcn, p. 6, July 22, 1777-

40 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

touche. Ayez la bonte de faire parvenir son lan-
guage a la connoissance de ceux au nom des quels
vous m'avez fait I'honneur de m'ecrire.'

But the formal thanks of Congress he seems
never to have received, much to Trumbull's
regret, who could only write :

" We had nothing to offer you but our
thanks and to withhold the most honourable
public testimony of these did appear to me
very unjustifiable as well as highly impolitic,
silence I did conceive merited the
name of ingratitude." '^

' Brieven, p. 85, December 7, 1778.

'^ Brieven, p. 669, October i, 1783.

The difficulties of their correspondence were not small. When
Governor Trumbull had the " honour and pleasure to acknowledge,"
August 31, 1779, in a letter to Baron van der Capellen, the latter's
first and triplicate letter of December 7, 1778, he says that " the for-
mer came the i8th. instant, the latter about three weeks ago by Cap-
tain Niles from France. . . . The duplicate came to Philadelphia,
the first that arrived." — (See Collections of the Massachusetts His-
torical Society. First series, vol. vi. Boston, 1798.) This letter was
entrusted to Mr. Gosuinus Erkelens, who intended to have delivered
it to the Governor on the 2nd of June, 1779. " But," wrote Mr.
Erkelens, " a most unlucky affair will prae vent me that great satis-
faction ; to my greatest sorrow I left my sulky with all my bagage
in Middletown ; my horse being worried out ; I would send for the
same by water, which I did, and the man which I send instead fol-
lowing my orders to have the Carriage floated behind the boat ; had
the imprudency to take it in the boat : which has made the same
oversett : and all my things sinkt into the River : I could find no

POLITICAL WORK AND FRIENDSHIPS. 4 1

All the time [van der Kemp continues], which I
now could spare, I devoted to becoming thoroughly
acquainted not only with the history and antiquities,
but principally with the laws and constitution of my
country. My bosom glowed with the sacred fire of
patriotism, and it seemed to me the period was fast
approaching, if not already there, in which these
sacred rights — long lost or neglected or made doubt-
ful—for which the blood of our ancestors had been
shed with such a profusion, might be recovered.

We enjoyed peace, had many enlightened Patriots
at the helm, many who had known and were initiated
by Wieling, Noodt, Barbeyrac, Bynkershoek, Voorda,
van der Marck and van der Keessel ' ; and it seemed
to me that the interests of the House of Orange, if
well understood, might effect a co-operation from
that side. No doubt there were many virtuous and
enlightened men amongst its warmest partisans.
No constitutional barrier existed, encroachments had
been made, it is true, but often without intention to
enslave the country. The danger became evident
of undefined power entrusted to individuals. The
Union of Utrecht was in many respects imperfect,
and had never been intended for a constitution.
There had been a continued struggle between the

words to express my sorrow for this : in principall for that Letter.
If I work a Whole Week shall not give out to look for it and am in
hopes to find them." — MS. letter dated " Chatham near Middletown
Conn., 3 June, 1779." In Trumbull papers, Connecticut Historical
Society, Hartford. Unsigned, but undoubtedly written by Erkelens,
a Dutch merchant established for some time in America.
' Jurists.

42 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

one, the few, and the many. The nation at large
was at length excluded from any interference in
public affairs except in Friesland, and nominally, in
the cities of Guelderland. When no Stadtholder
was at the head of the government, then a staunch
aristocracy ruled, and curbed every symptom of
innovation ; this was particularly the case after the
death of William III. in the beginning of the eight-
eenth century, when a few noblemen in Guelderland
and Utrecht exerted themselves in vain to restore
their fellow citizens to their ancient privileges, which
had been first trodden under foot by the House of
Austria. When in 1747- 1748 the Stadtholderate
was restored, the balance struck once more to that
side. The nation was in the meantime happy, and
called herself free, because the people were not
vexed, because their property was held sacred, their
personal safety unmolested, and justice impartially
administered.

To ensure the happiness of this country, and place
liberty on a less precarious, more solid basis, a re-
generation was desirable, was unavoidable. The
House of Orange might remain a blessing as the
Executive ; the nobles and patricians ought to con-
tinue to possess a legal counterpoise in their State
Assemblies ; but the nation at large ought to recover
a real influence in the choice of their representatives.
To resist encroachments, to reform abuses, to apply
constitutional remedies, and to establish a regular
reform was desired by many, was deemed desirable
by many even of the Orange party, who only were

POLITICAL WORK AND FRIENDSHIPS. 43

withholden by fear from the usual dangers of innov-
ations. My friend Paulus had published his Essay
on the Usefulness of the Stadtholderate, as it Ought to
Have BeeJi. He showed his extended views in his
commentary on the Union of Utrecht. Van der
Capellen the Lord of Pol raised his voice to break
the galling chains of the yeomanry of Overyssel, in
proposing the abolishing of the corvees^ exacted
often with rigour by the High Dignitaries. Both
urged me to step forward, and to be sure, I did not
want the spur. I communicated my ideas to my
friends, and encouraged by both, I published my
Observations on the Union of Utrecht " in five letters
to my friend P. Paulus, first without, but afterwards
reprinted with my name. In these I discussed sev-
eral of the most important points of the Union, as
the military jurisdiction, the quotas of the different
States, the right of arbitrage, &c., &c. Now the ice
was broken, and I was encouraged on every side to
proceed.

It was about this time that I aimed to accomplish
a nearly Herculean task in my actual situation. I
intended to collect all which was valuable among
the archives of my country, as well as in the libraries
of individuals. I perceived the forged chains which
were to be riveted on the necks of my countrymen,

' Drosiendienst. Legally abolished in 1631, compensated by
money to the sheriffs, this still exacted from the peasants the services
of two days' labour in the year, which were similar to the French
corvefes, though less severe,

''' This work brought him the odium of the Stadtholder's party.

44 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

and deemed it a feasible thing to break these. I
perceived their insensiblHty and indolence, and
would rouse them to vigorous unrelenting action ; I
glowed with indignation when I became convinced
that in the fetters prepared for the Americans, the
slavery of my own country was a chief ingredient.
I would enlighten my parishioners by the pure
knowledge of genuine Gospel-truth, and annihilate
the hierarchical power in the Church of Christ.

Neither the difficulties I had to struggle with,
nor the obstacles I had to encounter, nor the threat-
ening aspect of futurity could discourage me or
slacken my endeavours. Here were the Barons
Capellen van der Pol and der Marsch, there van
Berckel, de Gyzelaer, Paulus, Luzac, emboldening
me to proceed ; while a du Pui,' a van der Marck,'
a Vreede, a van Schelle,' made a proffer of their
aid, and numbers of the worthiest of the Stadthold-
er's friends procured me weapons of hardened steel
to combat the monstrous hydra.

I published now with short intervals my Letters on
the Corvces in Overyssel, a Collection of Authentic
Doctiments, called Jr. JoJian Derk van der Capellen^
Lord of the Pol, Member of the Equestrian Order
in Overyssel, Regent, a Collection of Tracts Relative
to the United States of North America [chiefly letters
of Governors Trumbull and Livingston], with a

' Probably the Walloon preacher Isaac du Puy, friend of van der
Capellen.

' " My beloved and meritorious master." — V. d. K.

' Pieter, 1 749-1 792. Left Holland in 1787, one of the Patriots.

POLITICAL WORK AND FRIENDSHIPS. 45

preface on this new commonwealth, including a
comparison between this and that of the United
Provances, under the signature of "Junius Brutus,"
dedicated to the United States, and a Collection of
State Papers relating to the debated question of
illimited convoys,' with a preface by " Junius Brutus
Secundus Friso." '

The Letters on the Corvc'es were successful above
my most sanguine expectations. The first inflamed
those in power; the reward of two hundred dollars
was offered by placard to discover the author or
printer. The second, by which the first appeared
flaccid, roused the inhabitants of Overyssel, who
poured in their petitions from every side to request
the States for the abolition of this ignominious
slavery. The three capital cities — Kampen, De-
venter, and ZwoUe — with the Noble Drost Pallandt
van Zuithem,^ stood forward in their defence. The

' Unlimited Convoy. The protection by the navy of merchant-
men without regard to difference of lading. See Sillem.

" Van der Kemp is as magnanimous as capricious, his courage and
Calmness merit admiration and his patriotism also respect. I have
most seriously asked of van Berckel protection for him. The unlim-
ited convoy and the whole Patriot party owe more than is known to
this clergyman, and so have I written van Berckel." (J. D. van der
Capellen to R. J. van der Capellen, May 12, 1780. Britven, p. 177.)
And later he asked his kinsman Hooft for some position for van der
Kemp "which is difficult to obtain because he has left our public
church."

' "I have also translated into Dutch a sermon by a friend in
England, The American War Lamented. Perhaps this renders my
enemies an occasion to persecute me anew." — MS. letter to Adams.
Leyden, November 26, 1781.

^ Adolph Werner van Pallandt, 1727-1803.

46 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

third and last Letter broke and humbled the spirit
of the high-minded Lords, so that I openly and
fearlessly stept forward, and did see these shackles
removed by a solemn statute.

This victory increased my vigorous exertions. I
then prepared the history of Capellen's admission
into the Equestrian Order in Overyssel, and brought
in order my great Magazine, to attack and destroy
that hideous monster of military jurisdiction. But
these so many complicated engagements nearly
overpowered me ; they brought me to the brink of
the grave ; yet I emerged.

One Friday evening when returning from my
literary club earlier than usual, a violent headache
compelling me to retreat, I went to bed, passed a
restless night, awoke with increased pain, which
compelled me to go again to bed in the afternoon,
giving orders to my servant to awake me at three
in the morning, as my sermon was yet unfinished.
I executed my task above my expectation, preached
with an increasing headache from instant to instant,
laid down as soon as I reached home, and was on
Monday morning so much exhausted that writing
three lines to my friend P. Vreede, they were illegi-
ble. My strength gradually diminished and I was
reduced that day to a state of stupid lethargy ; all
my faculties were benumbed ; pain had left me ;
time seemed not to exist. My physician was per-
plexed, and apprehensive that the vital powers were
so far absorbed that I must ere long sink under it.
What was remarkable, the moment I shut my eyes I

POLITICAL WORK AND FRIENDSHIPS. 47

had a MS. leaf, then on the press, in my hand, read
it till I arrived at an erasure, and then I awoke ;
this sensation continued a fortnight. My physician
had ordered me the use of Peruvian bark, and recom-
mended the country air. I was carried to the sea-
coast, and received at my former residence with
kindness, mingled with deep distress at my situation.
Not one but despaired of my recovery. I took every
hour a teaspoonful of bark in powder, made to a
palatable conserve by syrup of roses. Within a
fortnight after my arrival I began to revive, and
moved through the room ; my appetite returned ;
with this I joined sea bathing, increased my bod-
ily exercise with my renewed devouring appetite,
lessened gradually the use of the bark, and con-
tinued my exercises, amusing myself in the society of
my surrounding friends, without so much as looking
at a book, and within six weeks I returned in the full
bloom of youth and muscular strength to Leyden,
so that everyone was astonished in witnessing this sur-
prising recovery. Thus was my usefulness restored.
With renewed alacrity I doubled my former ex-
ertions, and devoted myself once more to accom-
plish that arduous and complicated task, of which I
had chalked only the rough outlines. Voluntarily I
took it on my shoulders, and was so generally suc-
cessful that I had no reason to complain. One
single production, a cutting philippic, entitled A
Laurel Wreath for a Fezv Nobles — such a one as I
here entwined round the head of Canaan's priest ' —

' A Wreath for the Rev. Dow.

48 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

I since regretted, as it could not effect any good
purpose, but irritated and widened the breach. In
the latter case it was the infliction of a well-deserved
chastisement.

I had published an ode' in 1780 in praise of the
opposition in Friesland. It was not mine ; it was
the work of the friend of my bosom [Peter Vreede],*
who had then fled his country. A criminal prosecu-
tion was instituted against the printer ; and the
weakness of the man, who had undertaken the pub-
lication by his unlimited confidence in me, persuaded
me to extricate him and charge myself with its
responsibility. Could I have done else? Could I
betray a friend whose happiness was in my power?
No ! You would have blushed at such a father.
He was married, and had already two children, and
an amiable and accomplished wife ; I was alone and
could weather the storm. A criminal prosecution
was then instituted against me by the Promoter
[Public Prosecutor] of the University, as one of its
members, for the publication of an Ode, by which
the government, principally that of Friesland, was

^ Lyric Poem, dedicated to Messrs. Eysinga, Buma, and other
members of the Council of Friesland. By E. H. J. Leyden, 1780.
8vo. "Van der Kemp published this through Herdingh, who was
fined. Hereupon he made himself known as author, and won a
remarkable lawsuit." See Sillem.

' The secret of the authorship is disclosed by van der Kemp in
a note to his MS., Memoirs oti Copper, as follows; "An ode was
published January i, 1780, — in praise of a few noblemen who voted
for illimited convoys. Its author, P. Vreede, my dearest friend, was
by his peculiar situation prevented from owning it. To cover him
and save the editor [printer], I charged me with its responsibility."

as the infliction of a

lied an ode' in 1780 in praise o
in Friesland. It was not mine ; it was
■ '\ ^ " ' of my bosom [Peter Vreede],'
country. A criminal prosecu-
tion was instituted against the printer; and the
weakness of the man, who ' ' 'ertaken the pub-
lication by his unHmited cc e in me, persuaded
me to extricate him and charge myself with its
responsibility. Could I have done else? Could I
betray a friend whe^^S'ppm^^^^vas in my power?
No ! You would have blushed at such a fatheE.
He was married, and had already two children, and
an amiable and accomplished wife; I v""^ nl,,ne and
could weather the storm. A crimin. ition

the government,

' Lyric Poem, dedicated to M .
members of the Council of Frie?'
8vo. ' "emp pub'::

fined. he made

remark " See Siiiem.

'The - .- the axulior.^hiv'

a note to his MS., M
published January i, i/ij. —
for illimited convoys. Its ai.
by his peculiar sit.;
and save the edito:

noter
of its
\hich

an der Kemp in

s: " An ode was

., ..oblemen who voted

my dearest friend, was

■ung it. To cover him

th its responsibility."

a%aa3HaHmQ(a-umTira;i!rT!!MMiiliMimyni}tiJmJltn!UtM!l';ti^

POLITICAL WORK AND FRIENDSHIPS. 49

accused and traduced, and on the loth of April,
1780, I was summoned to appear before the Rector
and Judges composing the High Academic Tribunal.

This was the second law-case of that nature during
the existence of the Republic : the first was that of
Mr. Adrian van der Mieden, one of the Judges of
the Supreme Court.

It was evident, and even whispered pretty loudly,
that the Ode was the pretext, and that the other
publications, principally the Collection of State Papers
by Junius Brutiis, were the real object. All my
friends — even the firmest — were alarmed : with one
voice they urged me to leave the country. An asy-
lum was offered me in Brussels ; the protection of
the French Cabinet was engaged in my behalf; even
the undaunted van der Capellen, Lord of Pol, urged
my departure, and entreated me to listen to the
advice of disinterested friends. I would be a use-
less victim ; the Ode, however well written, was not
worth this sacrifice. Not one of the Patriotic law-
yers dared to step forward in my defence, except my
friend John Luzac. He advised me, if I had con-
fidence enough in myself, to brave the criminal pro-
cedures, only awful in appearance to the guilty, to
the weak and pusillanimous. If I trusted in my-
self, he would say, stand unmovable ; weather the
threatening storm, and you will dispel it. Another
lawyer of the first eminence, and a declared partisan
of the House of Orange, de Beveren van Zelder,
engaged voluntarily to assist him : with such aid
and a good cause what had I to fear? I bade

50 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

farewell to an amiable friend, Miss E, Goverts, who
started that day for Hamburg, took with her a part-
ing dish of chocolate, and went about twelve to the
City Hall, where the court was assembled. The
street was literally crowded, but all made place when
I appeared with my counsellors : we were admitted
into an adjoining room.

The criminal procedures at that time in Holland
were more imposing than here : the Judges in pontif-
icalibus, the counsel removed, the doors shut, and
the prisoner left to his own ingenuity or innocence.

It was the first of May, about one, when I was
warned by the beadle to appear before the august
tribunal, consisting of eleven members besides their
Secretary, viz. : the Rector Magnificus, four Profess-
ors, four Burgomasters, and two Echevins, and was
examined, stantepede, from one to ten o'clock at night
upon ninety-four interrogatories, some very intricate
and ambiguously expressed.

I had made a favourable impression on the major-
ity of the Judges; many exerting themselves, as I
was afterwards informed by my friends, at every
opposition I made against any inquisitorial proceed-
ing which I deemed unlawful, with warmth in my
favour, while I was absent ; so that I could not be
intimidated by the threats of the Promoter, and I
boldly declined to answer at all as often as I was
entitled by law to claim this privilege. I was finally
dismissed under the solemn promise of re-appearance,
Siib pcena confessi et convicti.

I recollected sixty-seven of the principal interrogat-

POLITICAL WORK AND FRIENDSHIPS. 5 1

ories and answers, which I gave to my friend Luzac,
and then, though late at night, sat down at an excel-
lent supper of codfish on which we had intended to
dine.

The 22nd of May was the day appointed for the
continuation of the procedures, but the Promoter
was not ready. A manly petition was presented by
my counsellors, upon which the High Tribunal com-
manded the Promoter to prosecute, if he had any
just cause, within a fortnight, and conclude the
process within four weeks ; or " that they in default
of it, should declare it concluded, leaving iii this case
to me all the further means to which I, by law and
practice, was entitled."'

The second examination was the 2nd of June,
1780, on forty-six articles; the third on the 12th of
June on thirty-five articles. Then my counsel re-
quested the conclusion, but another term of pro-
longation of four weeks was granted to the Promoter,
who then applied to the Committee of State (Ge-
committeerde Raeden), which transacts business
during the adjournment of the States Assembly, to
have his powers enlarged, so that he might continue
his prosecution against me, as the presumed Junius
Brutus ; which address was sent by the Committee
of State to the Academic Tribunal for their consid-
eration and advice. Then the Promoter addressed
himself by a new petition to the States of Holland,
requesting more time to institute his prosecution,
which was again sent to the Rector and Judges ;
when a masterly remonstrance, which was the

52 FliANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

combined work of both Professors-at-Lavv Voorda and
van del" Keessel, was presented in my defence to the
States of Holland by the Academic Tribunal. My
counsel urged on the 25th of January, 1781, the ter-
mination of this vexatious procedure. This noble
Tribunal addressed the Assembly of States once
more in energetic language, expostulating with firm-
ness that justice loudly claimed the termination of
this process on the 9th of July, 1781, as the Pro-
moter had obtained an unlimited stircheance. The
secret plan was to leave me sub reatu. My counsel
urged the injustice of a longer delay, in a petition
the 15th of October, 1781 ; and then, as advised by
the Academic Tribunal, I applied directly to the
States in November, 1781 ; went in person to the
Hague ; appealed to the Great Pensionary and all
the Delegates of the eighteen cities, claiming loudly
for justice, either by absolution or condemnation.

Upon advice of the Secretary of the Senate, I
appeared the 14th of January, 1782, before the
High Tribunal, and urged my claims to a final issue ;
when that illustrious body addressed itself once
more in my behalf on the 21st of January to the
Legislature of the State, with that success that the
States of Holland declared the siircheance removed
and the process terminated, leaving to the Rector
and Judges the lawful conclusion in open letters of
the 25th of January. The Academic Senate sum-
moned the Promoter to appear before it. He de-
clared (Mr. van der Marck being the successor in
office to Mr. P. Marcus) that he had no ground to

POLITICAL WORK AND FRIENDSHIPS. 53

proceed, and so I was finally and solemnly acquitted
on the 28th of January, 1782.

This vexatious procedure was, notwithstanding
the obtained triumph, highly expensive ; but here
too gratitude requires the acknowledgment that it
was reimbursed by my friend to a farthing, as soon
as I informed him of the amount. It cost me be-
sides, unavoidably, some unpleasant moments, but
it could not damp my spirits. I lashed abuse of
power, wherever I met with it, without mercy, even
when threatened with incarceration. The week-
minded stood aloof ; many feared to accost me in
public, but I gained more and more the favourable
regards of the first men in the State, and obtained
unequivocal proofs of approbation from zealous and
honest men in the Orange party. They knew I was
no tool ; they knew my patriotism was pure, disin-
terested. Some of my parishioners meanwhile, and
not the least valuable part, regretted that I em-
barked so deep in that political gulf.

I had published the whole legal process till its
conclusion, with a preface and the Ode, to prove its
innocence; and published now in 1782, to gratify
my congregation, a volume of sermons, chiefly on
the relative duties, which I dedicated to my late
parishioners in Huyzen ; then a sermon — A Delinea-
tio7i of the Conduct of Israel and Rehoboani, as a mir-
ror for the Prince and the Nation — i Kings xii., 3,
20,' which being three times delivered, and twice

' De Gyzelaer is said to have come from Dort to hear his friend
preach this famous sermon.

54 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

printed, caused a great sensation, the more so as at
the same time my noble friend had written a manly
appeal To the People of Netherlands while I visited
him at his country seat, and entrusted me with its
publication and distribution. Seldom had use been
made of bolder language; the alleged facts were
stubborn, and truth appeared in all its awful solemn-
ity. Its effect resembled an electric shock. It
was literally spread through the principal cities as
well as the country, and this in one single night ; and
although I had employed several individuals, and
twenty-five hundred dollars was offered for the dis-
covery, not one person betrayed his trust.

The history of this famous pamphlet, a mas-
terpiece of its kind, is set forth by the Rev. A.
Loosjes of Amsterdam in two pamphlets, giv-
ing minutely the course of his five years' invest-
igation to other students of the subject.

No less than fifteen forms are known under
which it has been printed, it has been several
times translated, and many times transcribed.
An anonymous note on the MS. copy in the
Paris National Library states that " Professor
Valckenaer said that Mr. Capellen de Pol
made this work and that it was printed at
Lingen, where Mr. van der Marck, then Pro-

POLITICAL WORK AND FRIENDSHIPS. 55

fessor in that city, had presided over its pub-
Hcation." The pamphlet itself tells us that
van der Marck was called to Lingen after his
dismissal from Groningen at the instance of
the Stadtholder, for alleged heterodoxy, but
really for his liberal principles, though he was
friendly to the House of Orange.

Mr. Loosjes's theory, that it was written by
van der Capellen of Pol, he regards as finally
proved by this statement of van der Kemp.^

The anonymous author of this famous
pamphlet, who so solemnly addresses his " Fel-
low Countrymen, . . . as in the presence
of the All-Seeing God," traces the history of
the Netherlands from the dawn of Batavian
free government to his own day, clown through
the long years of continued encroachment
upon the people's rights by even the best
rulers, and ends in a bitter arraignment of
William V. The final appeal To the People of
the Netherlands is not only "to act before all
be lost, to challenge the supine conduct of the

' Copied and sent him by the editor in 1890. See A. Loosjes,
Nog een en ander, etc., p. 14, Amsterdam 1891.

56 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

war with England, to protect the liberty of the
press, the only prop of our freedom," but even
dares a more threatening key. " Let all be
ready, every man with his musket, bayonet and
side arms, let them follow the example of the
people of America where not a drop of blood
was shed till the English struck the first
blow, and Jehovah will support our righteous
cause."

Hotheaded as this may seem, the bold writer
had carefully weighed every word as he sat in
his old house at Appeltern with van der Kemp,
nor failed to count the cost. " This letter will
be proclaimed seditious and slanderous, re-
wards promised for information of writer or
printer," and so it came to pass.

Adams wrote from Amsterdam, October 25,
1781 :

I see in the London Courant, which arrived to-
day, an advertisement of a translation into English
of the address to the people of Netherlands ; so that
this work is likely to be translated into all languages,
and read by all the world, notwithstanding the pla-
cards against it. I have before sent that of Utrecht.'

^ Dip. Corres. Am. Rev., vol. iii., p. 492.

POLITICAL WORK AND FRIENDSHIPS. 57

The States of Holland and West Friesland
offered for discovery of author, writer, or
printer one thousand gold ryders and promised
protection, secrecy, pardon, and reward to any
person turning state's evidence.

Any one printing, publishing, or circulating the
same shall be under pain of perpetual banishment,
and forfeit six thousand gulden, one third to go to
the ofificer who makes the seizure, one third to the
informer, and one third to the poor. . . . All print-
ers, booksellers, and all to whom the pampJilct may
be sent for sale, gift, distribution, lending, or read-
ing are ordered to bring the same to the Magistrate,
under pain of punishment.'

But " not one person betrayed his trust,"
and van der Kemp was free to continue his
work, as is shown by the following letter to
Mr. Adams :

Nymegen, Ce 5 juin 1781
La lettre de Gouverneur Trumbull est sous la
presse. J'ai fini la traduction des articles de la con-

^ N. Nederl. Jaarb., Oct., 1781.

"Such are the severe measures which this Government think
themselves bound to take to suppress this libel. They will have,
however, a contrary effect, and will make a pamphlet which other-
wise perhaps would have been known in a small circle, familiar to all
Europe. The press cannot be restrained; all attempts of that kind
in France and Holland are every day found to be ineffectual." —
Adams, Dip. Carres. Am. Rev., vol. iii., p. 493.

58 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

foederation des Etats Unis en 1778, comme aussi du
sermon de Dr. Cooper et des heads of enquiry with
the answer to it, printed at Boston, comme une piece
relatif au lettre du Gouverneur. Un de mes amis
traduit les autres pieces et harangues relatifs a la
constitution de Massachusetts Bay, et apres mon re-
tour a Leyde je donnerai toutes ces papiers au Pub-
lic avec un preface, que j'ecrirai dans I'air libre
d'Appeltern.

P. S. ce midi je pars a Appeltern chez le Baron
van der Capellen, si votre excellence me fait I'hon-
neur de faire reponse k cet lettre oserois-je demander
de I'addresser a M. van der Capellen, Le Baron
van der Capellen de Marsch a fait un male har-
angue, peut etre j'aurai I'occasion d'en donner un
detail plus ample.

By November 26th he congratulates Adams
on Yorktown, but fears that both the Barons
van der Capellen will suffer for their glorious
opposition to the Court measures.^

The autobiography continues :

This and several other publications kept my mo-
ments of leisure employed ; I had constantly two,
sometimes three presses at my disposal.

Before the end of this year four large volumes in 8vo
of my Magazine of Authentic Documents on the Mili-

' MS. letters.

POLITICAL WORK AND FRIENDSHIPS. 59

tary Jtirisdiction^ collected from the State Records in
all the Provinces were completed. This momentous
and interesting question had at length become an
object of deliberation in the Legislative Assemblies
of the States. The Court party seemed resolved
not to obstruct the proceedings, with a view to gain
popularity by this condescension. I sent the work
as soon as it was printed, to the States of the differ-
ent Provinces, humbly requesting their acceptance
of documents of the highest importance in their
present deliberations, and of which, as I informed
the Grand Pensionary van Bleiswyck in a private
audience, " many they did not possess, and could
not procure ; while several had been destroyed in
the archives and restored by me to existence, to
prevent hesitation in the decision of this great
national question."

I was ere long informed by my particular friends
in the States of Holland, that the Great Pensionary'

' There were in all eleven volumes.

This work, like others from his pen, is still of value. It established
the contention of Capellen and the Democrats that military men
should in both criminal and civil matters be judged by the ordinary
tribunals save where the States General had indicated a military judge.
— See Hartog, Uit de Dagen, p. 78.

* " M. van Bleiswick [Grand Pensionary of Holland] is a great
scholar, linguist, natural philosopher, mathematician, and even phy-
sician ; has great experience in public affairs, and is able and adroit
enough in the conduct of them ! but not having a temper bold and
firm enough, or perhaps loving his ease too much, or not having am-
bition, or patriotism, or zeal, or health enough to assume a great and
decided conduct, he is fallen in his reputation. They suspected him
of duplicity, and in short, measures are prepared and brought into

6o FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

declined to present these volumes in my name.
I directly went to him and inquired how he justified
his conduct. His pretexts were frivolous, and his last
refuge that he did not deem it proper to present
these books to the State in my name. I left him
and waited a few weeks that he might deliberate,
and then insisted peremptorily on his returning
them ; when I sent these to the city of Leyden, im-
ploring their patriotic patronage in this momentous
cause. I received the solemn thanks of the city by
their Pensionary van Stavoren, with a present in
books sumptuously bound, viz. Fr. van Mieris's Char-
ter Book, and the Description of Leyden by Mieris
and D. van Alphen ; and ere long, yet more gratify-
ing, from the States of Groningen and Friesland, by
their Secretary of State ; while the States in Utrecht
contented themselves to make a present in money
to the printer's servants. In Guelderland the Burg-
graef van Lynden ' prevented its becoming an
object of the State deliberations. " No individual
was entitled to such a distinguished privilege." He
bereft me indeed of a high gratification, but it was
not in his power to stop the proceedings. Not one
dared to step forward as the advocate for this arbi-
trary tribunal. Before the end of the year four
other volumes were completed, and these crowned
by the success, that the High Tribunal of Military

the States of Holland without his consent or previous knowledge, and
there carried ; a thing unknown until these days." — Adams, Sept. 4,
1782, Dip. Corres. Am. Rev., vol. iii., p. 636.

' Probably William, who was in great favour at Court, governor of
the prince's sons, and made Burggraef of Nymegen.

POLITICAL WORK AND FRIENDSHIPS. 6 1

Jurisdiction was solemnly annulled throughout all
the Provinces, and sanctioned by the States General,
and his Highness the Prince Stadtholder. I then
gave a Supplement of three volumes as lasting
monuments and warnings to posterity, how usurp-
ation, slowly creeping forward, at length takes hold
with a thousand roots, not to be eradicated without
a great struggle.

I now seriously contemplated to form a more last-
ing connection in life, and succeeded in obtaining
the heart and hand of your dear mother, 20th of
May, 1 782. She was the daughter of the Honourable
Jacob Vos, Burgomaster of the city of Nymegen,
and Lady Cuneira Beekman, the last sprig of that
noble lineage, of whose ancestors William Beekman
— her grandfather's brother — emigrated to New Am-
sterdam in 1646, where he soon was appointed Gov-
ernor on the South River. Her mother reluctantly
consented. I was already too well known. She
more favourably inclined with her son, then Burgo-
master at Nymegen, to the Stadtholder's cause, her
husband having stood as the Prince's godfather in
the name of the States of Guelderland. But I car-
ried the prize notwithstanding, Jiaiit a la main, and
conquered ere long the good-will of all.

When I returned to .Leyden I published i^?V^ vS^r-
mons 071 Solemn Days during the last war with Eng-
land, exerting about that period every nerve to
organize a solid system of reforming the remaining
abuses, and restore the ancient privileges which our
forefathers had enjoyed even under Charles V.

62 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

In 1783, three days after your birth, I received a
solemn invitation to a splendid dinner from the
mercantile interest at Amsterdam, to celebrate the
American Independence, the abolished Corv^es in
Overyssel, and the re-establishment of Baron van der
Capellen of Pol in the Equestrian Order (readmitted
to the Council Hall of Overyssel Nov. i, 1782) and
of Fr. van Berckel, as Pensionary of that city.

This was a magnificent banquet at the New
Doelen, in the Garnalen Market at Amster-
dam. A gold medal bearing the emblems of
their freedom was given by the grateful farmers
to the Baron, and each of the guests received
one in silver from the same die.

Though till van der Kemp's last days
Capellen's name was ever on his lips, in his
memoirs he now mentions it almost for the
last time, and the story of his later life may
best be told here.

Baron van der Capellen is said by a
Hollander of our own time to have been
personally attractive and sympathetic, a man
of dignity and presence, whose face was full
of candour and honesty, — " a Democrat who
sought to keep clean hands " — " too much of an

POLITICAL WORK AND FRIENDSHIPS. 63

aristocrat to be a demagogue " — and without
ambitions for himself.

While in the opinion of his contemporaries
no correct likeness was known of him, there
remain numbers of engraved portraits, such as
the one brought to America by van der Kemp.
Many of them are adorned by such emblems as
a broken yoke, a parted chain, which denote
his success in freeing the Overyssel farmers
of the last burden of feudal rule, the Corv^es
or Drostendienst. Its abrogation was first de-
manded by him in a speech in April, 1778,
which has its chief interest for us as giving his
doctrine of human rights. This, taken with
his support of the American cause three years
before, now brought about his " unjust expul-
sion from his seat in the States of Overyssel
the following October.

My first entrance into public life — he wrote to his
American correspondents — exacted utter renuncia-
tion of wealth. This I had decided I could do with-
out. A few years of retirement in the country,
joined to a little philosophy, had weaned me from
the love of dignities and the favour of the great. A
rigid economy, a very simple way of living, no stables,

64 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

no kennels, few servants, assured my independence.
Having partly foreseen the trials inevitable from such
an enterprise I bore them in patience, always hoping
that in the end I might be useful to my country. —
Formerly I had the happiness to lead a quiet,
obscure and private life, but for the last six years
I have experienced all the bitterness of public con-
tests— an unexampled opposition without the least
help of a living soul. — I am now excluded from all
share in the government ; the efforts which I am
still making to be restored to it arise only from a
sense of duty. — Longing to retire, being now nearly
forty, old beyond my years, from ill-health, applica-
tion to business, and trouble, . . . the only wish
I form is to do this in happy America. — But this an
aged father, a wife, and the education of an only
child forbid.

" All the details concerning my expulsion
have been collected," he continued, " under the
title of Capellen Regent by an unknown friend."
This friend was soon to be recognised as van
der Kemp, one of the few who agreed with
him that it was now or never with the friends
of freedom in the Netherlands.

Capellen had published in 1777 a Dutch
translation of Dr. Price's Observations on Civil
ajid Religious Liberty and the Justice of the

POLITICAL WORK AND FRIENDSHIPS. 65

War with America, with a preface of his own,
which is regarded as his poHtical creed.

The battle was now joined, and there were
few men even in the province of Holland who
dared so openly as he to lead the opposition
against what he believed the Stadtholder's un-
due power, and in favour of the American
cause. His doctrines gained ground, he be-
came well and widely known, and more and
more in the many pamphlets of the time was
he made the model of a patriot. Perhaps in
deference to his sucrcrestion in a letter to
Governor Livingston of New Jersey,^ that the
United States should send as soon as possible
a suitable representative to Holland, Adams
arrived in Amsterdam in August, 1780, enter-
ing the country, he said, "a forlorn pilgrim
without a letter of introduction to anybody."
On September 19th he received his provisional
commission to negotiate a loan and at once set
about discharging this duty.'~

' Brievcn, p. 115.

° Mr. Adams arrived in Paris on February 9th, 17S0. — "There
seeming no prospect that Great Britain would soon be inclined to
peace," for the negotiation of which he had been sent out as pleni-

66 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

Capellen had little money to invest ; he had
sacrificed the brilliant opportunity for making
a fortune offered by his relations with the
Court in order to preserve his independence
of its favours. But he wrote on the i6th of
October to ask the terms of the loan, to offer
his services in his little sphere, and to recom-
mend " mon intime van der Kemp, a man of
learning, integrity and courage."

potentiary, and "having no special reasons for remaining at the
French Court, he made a tour to Holland in the beginning of August,
leaving his secretary, Mr. Dana, at Paris.

" Meantime Congress had assigned him another duty. Mr. Henry
Laurens had been appointed, as early as November, 1779, to negoti-
ate a loan of ten millions abroad, but having been prevented by vari-
ous causes from departing on this service. Congress, on the 20th of
June following, authorized Mr. Adams to engage in the undertaking,
and prosecute it till Mr. Laurens, or some other person in his stead,
should arrive in Europe. This commission reached Paris four weeks
after he had left that city, and Mr. Dana proceeded with it to Hol-
land. Efforts were immediately made to procure a loan in that
country, which were for a long time ineffectual, but which at last
succeeded." — Dip. Corres. Am. Rev., vol. ii., p. 535.

"Till this moment you were unacquainted that I was compelled
to revere the man [John Adams] before I was honoured with the Am-
bassador's personal acquaintance. Van der Capellen of Pol, my con-
fidential friend, inspired me with an irresistible desire to see and
know that man on whom he bestowed with profusion his enthusiastic
encomiums. Do you remember a dinner at John de Neufville's, and
a warm altercation between you and that nobleman, and its noble
issue ? . . . It secured you the affectionate esteem of that worthy
man, and contributed to crown your arduous negotiations in the most
difficult and delicate period with a successful . . . for America

'.w»ViV ,mi"ivf'\

r . ' ,.,...,., .o invest

:t opportunity fo
his relatio!
to preserve his independence
. favours. But he wrote on the i6th of
ber to ask the terms of the loan, to offer
/.LIS services in his little sphere, and to recom-
mend " mon intime van der Kemp, a man of
learning, integrity and courage."

potentiary, and " having no special re
French Court, he made a tour to Holla'

i rung ai the
. !j of August,

T Original owned by ii&inss^>i7Mniia:TMistoric£iilf^xmiei^oX.i'

a war.
issue ?
man, and c
difficult and

in his stead,
...... VI y. a.ns four weeks

ceeded with it to Hol-

ina.ie to procure a loan in that

ime ineffectual, but which at last

..i. A/n. Hev., vol. ii., p. 535.

oil were unacquainted that I was r'->r»'j>elled

nsj before I wa.- n-

:)ce. V/iU ^rr _ .„n-

lo see and

., ..V ,.,. .^.. . ..:s enthusiastic

ie Neufville's, and

i^.^-iiian, and its noble

!e esteem of that worthy

negotiations in the most

' ul . . . for America

;ou remember a dinn

■no

""^^

1 -^^

■ ^

.'^

■.1^

68 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

friends of America, like John Luzac^ and the
Capellens, would so risk their money ; even
Capellen of Marsch hesitated till convinced by

this Fizeaux loan, but gives the loan of 1782 as the first Holland
loan. See p. 15.

Bolles's Financial History of the United States, p. 355, says that
" the Fizeaux loan of 51,000 florins became due Jan. i, 1788."

' This was John Luzac,* the great scholar and lawyer, Professor of
History and Greek Literature at Leyden, editor of the Leyden Gazette,
who was one of the most useful friends in Holland to Mr. Adams. f
He " became naturally acquainted with the family of the Luzacs, in
Leyden, whose gazette has been very useful to our cause, and who
are excellent people. M. John Luzac drew up the two petitions of
Leyden to their Regency.":}:

"He is one of the sound hearts and choice spirits, that I most loved
and esteemed in this World. . . . My Wife, My Daughter and
my two sons all knew him and revered him. He is a large Portion
of the salt of the Earth, and if it were not for a few such Lotts, it
seems to me, the whole Sodom must soon be burn'd up.
I shall never forget the Evenings I spent with him, with his Father
and Unkle, one of four score and the other near it. These venerable
sages entertained me with the Controversies in your Country between
the Maritime Provinces and the Inland; between Navy and Army.
They told me of Addresses to the Prince of orange in their youth in
which the speaker pronounced the Words ' Ships! Ships! Schippen!
Schippen ! forgive me if I have forgotten the Dutch Word.

"I have always cried 'Ships! Ships!' Hamiltons Hobby Horse was
Troops! Troops ! " ||

In March, 1807, came the tidings in a letter from Mr. Adams of

* For Biographical Notice from the yournal dc I 'Empire, see
Monthly Anthology for October, 1809.

f Adams's Life and Letters, vol. i., p. 330.

X Dip, Corres, Am. Rev., vol. iii., p. 640.

II Adams to v. d. K., MSS. letters, 1806-1807-1808. Penna. Hist.
Soc.

'!i ^n . 'CbitaLcu tiu cuuvuiet.

ves the loan of 1782 as the first Holland

ancial History of the United States, p. 355, says that

loan of 51,000 florins becar-' ' - - ^--. i, 1788."

ohn Luzac,* the great scho yer, Professor of

:'i <_' reek Literature at Le)' 'xfo. Gazette,

one of the most useful fn r. Adanis.f

lie " Ijecame naturally acquainted with 1 , Luzacs, in

Lcyden, whose ga-ette hn- been very usci -e, and who

are excellent \ ic drew up the two petitions of

Leyden to the; <>f I J

"He is one of th.. v . r-X^''??^ -W^<f(^^ sj.irits, that I most loved

ay between

and Army.

forgotten the Dutch

-_i.;...-i' u,„-.

■' 1- t ' r

Monthly

fAda;.

X Dip.

H Adanib lo v. a.
Soc.

, it>o6-jtSo7-i8o8. Penna. Hist.

POLITICAL WORK AND FRIENDSHIPS. 69

the letters of Trumbull and Livingston, trans-
lated, published, and circulated in 1779 by
van der Kemp and Capellen of Pol, who in
January, 1782, again invested 16,000 gulden,

the death of Luzac in the great gunpowder explosion at Leyden,
which happened between the houses where van der Kemp and his
sister lived. " A sister-in-law, niece and cousin, our best and oldest
friends, two families of Luzac, two, perhaps three, of La Pole, that
of de Gyzelaer, and of Vreede the friend of my bosom, resided there.
In the evening I communicated the event to Mrs. van der Kemp,
Luzac had been her friend long before she knew me, a friend for
more than forty years, a friend to her wlien I was in confinement.

" He honoured me with his confidence and his intimate friendship,
and I will pay him a part of my gratitude, the last offering perhaps
which I may bring to the altar of my friendship, although it may
never meet the public eye. Among the first of the citizens when
their liberties were assailed, to brave the impending danger, he often
weathered the storm alone. Not popular clamor, nor lures of the
court, nor the threats of a misguided prince could make him swerve
a hair's breadth from the path of duty. Above fear and hope he
stood at his post without reward. —A staunch Republican but a devout
lover of order. — An admirer of the British institutions, an adept in
the science of well-balanced government, he did not believe that the
wise and good tho' in affluent circumstances were therefore the worst
to be entrusted with the care of our lives and property — and laughed
at the Jacobin millennium. So stood he till the Revolution of 1795,
when a popular Assembly poisoned with the French spirit, robbed
him and his brother of their property, and he was driven from his
chair of the Greek language, and of Dutch History, for teaching his
students their duties as men and citizens. Scorning to ' receive
unearned his country's money,' he declined to accept a pension of
2000 guilders a year, offered later in 1798.

"A tender father, an ardent friend, a sincere Christian, death could
not surprise him unprepared."* "

*v. d. K. Note in MS. " Use of Copper," Buffalo Hist. Soc.

70 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

besides going about in person to urge sub-
scriptions.

The capture of Henry Laurens on his way
to the Netherlands involved the finding of his
papers, which roused the wrath of England.
The cause of the United States was thrown
into " extremest disfavour" in Holland, and the
discovery of Capellen's American correspond-
ence seemed to cut off the last chance of his
restoration. He took refuge for a time in
Amsterdam, and even contemplated leaving a
country "where land is fast losing its value,
and the Republic is at its end." Pol, Apple-
tern, and most of his other properties — he had
little but real estate — were for sale.

Yet he encouraged Adams, who " was
avoided like a pestilence." " Frequenting all
classes as I do I know that three-fourths of the
people are friendly to America ; the court party
alone will never be won. Do not discourage
your chiefs — send often petits paquebots with
true information to check the British tales,^ wait,

' Every extravagant lie vi'as circulated to damage the cause, " it has
never suffered from anything more than from the failure of giving and
receiving intelligence." — Adams's Life and Letters, vol. vii., p. 245.

a,Dout in

Henry ^..-. ^..

inds involved the finding of his

ich roused the wrath of England.

use of the United States was thrown

into " extremest disfavour" in Holland, and the

s Amt jrrespond-

ence seemed to cut off the last chance of his

restoration. He took refuge for a time in

\rp,ster,dam, n/id everi. <x)n tempi ate/l .leaying 3.r
rac simile oj Page of Boo re Lbnlaining Lisf of

Capelleii of PoTs Property.

aloj
your
true inl<

e a pestilenct requeni

-s 1 do I know that three-fourths
friendly to America; tl- -
'^^er be won. ^'- '
-end often ith

itocht. cdes.^wait,

' Every extravagant lie was circulat >
never suffered from ai
receiving intelligence

:e the cause, " it has

'ailure of giving and

J, vol. vii., p. 245.

^i ^ Ji <i ^ ^ ^

^ ^

ti^.

k1,H

'^^

,gi'^ c^o *^

^•/^ 'S K /\

"i ii «

^s.HMI^

U-l^

^^l«M^

72 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

guilders was obtained, at a moment when it
was of essential service in maintaining the
overstrained credit of the United States.

" Nor yet did this beneficial interposition
of Holland stop with the first loan. When
America, at the close of seven years of war,
was exhausted and gasping for breath, the
funds which she was enabled, for a time, to
draw from this source were most opportune to
keep her from sinking altogether. France,
to whom alone she had been able to look for
aid in the early stages of the contest, was
beginning to give signs of the distress which
resulted so deplorably afterwards. From the
date of the first successful loan until Mr. Adams
returned to America, in 1788, he kept up his
relations with the bankers of Amsterdam, and
through them succeeded in procuring succes-
sive advances, which carried his country safely
over the interval of disorder previous to the
consolidation of the federal government. This
great step, once taken, soon rendered further
assistance unnecessary. The people began to
gather up their resources, and to pour, almost

it
enciai s-t ,:': m lUciiiiLd.iuiiii' ihe
^ '-' ' t of the United States.

this beneficial interposition
with the first loan. When
America, a lose of seven years of war,

wa sted and gasping for breath, the

funds which she was enabled, for a time, to
draw from this source were most opportune to
keep/'JW^r ^J^An Vdck 'Berckel] Ftht^'MMi'mi^^frotn
'- -the United Netherlands to the United States.

:A\ cai'i

of dis'

con^. , ... ..;e fe<'*^' ^ his

great step, once take' arther

assistance unnecessar) gan to

gather up their resources almost

POLITICAL WORK AND FRIENDSHIPS. 73

without an effort, into the coffers of the treasury
sufficient sums to pay their Dutch friends an
ample compensation for the confidence they
had been wilHng to extend in their hour of
need. And in witnessing this process, no one
enjoyed a more unmingled satisfaction than
Mr. Adams. To him who had done so much
to persuade the Dutchmen to trust the honour
of his countrymen, the sense that these had
redeemed all the pledges he ventured to give
for them was even more gratifying to his pride
than if he had been acquitting a personal ob-
ligation of his own." ^

" The Dutch really deserve the affection,
even the gratitude of America," wrote Capel-
len to Trumbull, "as it is here the people who
have forced the government to declare her in-
dependence and conclude the alliance." Thus
** with generous sympathy the aged common-
wealth saluted the rising Republic of the
West," and Adams "thanked God that He
has enabled me to plant the standard of the
United States at the Hague, where it will

' Adams's Life and Letters, vol. i., p. 351. (See Appendix A.) ^

74 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

wave for ever. I am now satisfied and dread
nothing." ■•

You desire to know the popular leaders I have
formed acquaintance with. The two noblemen, the
Baron van der Capellen de Pol of Overyssel, and the
Baron van der Capellen of Marsch of Gelderland I
have formed an acquaintance with : the former very-
early after my arrival. I have had frequent and in-
timate conversations with him, and he has been of the
utmost service to our cause. His unhappy situation
and unjust expulsion from his seat in government,
the opposition of the Court and of his colleagues in
the regency make it delicate to write freely concern-
ing this nobleman. He has an independent fortune
though not called rich in this country. His parts
and learning are equal to any — his zeal and activity
superior. I dare not say in what a multitude of
ways he has served us ; posterity will perhaps know
them all.=

" How I have got through my troubles I
know not," wrote Capellen in May, 1782, and

' " Whatever you may think ; I know, that, if ever my name de-
served to be mentioned, from my Birth, on the 19th of October 1775
to this 29th of May 1814 ; it ought to have been noted in Holland in
1780, or 1781 or 1782, for this Period was the most important of my
whole Life, excepting one ; and that was the impeachment of the
Judges in Massachusetts." — Adams to v. d. K., MS. letter, May 29,
1814. Penna. Hist. Soc.

"Adams to Livingston, Life and Letters, vol. vii., pp. 621-2. \

POLITICAL WORK AND FRIENDSHIPS. 75

he expected many more. But at last, as the
autumn approached, owing- to the turn in
affairs which had so favoured the American
cause, it was no longer safe, said Adams, to
disregard the popular demand for the Baron's
restoration. The States of Overyssel yielded,
and recalled him without conditions as he
would submit to none.

When formally apprised of the vote, and
requested to appear in the Land Tag, then as-
sembled in the Stadhuis of Zwolle, Capellen
quietly sent word that, as it was about to ad-
journ, he would not take his seat until the next
session. The invitation, however, was at once
repeated, Baron van Bentinck Werkeren, his
wife's brother, being deputed to conduct him
to the Assembly.

Without further delay they passed from the
house of the Secretary of Zwolle, through a
lane, and thus avoiding the streets crowded
with his friends, quietly gained the Hall.^

As once again he crossed the threshold of

' Now (1896) the Stadhuis, or "Bureaux van het provinciaal
Bestuur van Overyssel." In the library are many contemporary
publications regarding Baron van der Capellen.

74 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

wave for ever. I am now satisfied and dread
nothinof." ^

" How I have got through my troubles I
know not," wrote Capellen in May, 1782, and

' " Whatever you may think ; I know, that, if ever my name de-
served to be mentioned, from my Birth, on the 19th of October 1775
to this 29th of May 1814 ; it ought to have been noted in Holland in
1780, or 1 78 1 or 1782, for this Period was the most important of my
whole Life, excepting one ; and that was the impeachment of the
Judges in Massachusetts." — Adams to v. d. K., MS. letter, May 29,
1814. Penna. Hist. Soc.

-Adams to Livingston, Life and Letters, vol. vii., pp. 621-2. |

POLITICAL WORK AND FRIENDSHIPS. 75

he expected many more. But at last, as the
autumn approached, owing to the turn in
affairs which had so favoured the American
cause, it was no longer safe, said Adams, to
disregard the popular demand for the Baron's
restoration. The States of Overyssel yielded,
and recalled him without conditions as he
would submit to none.

Without further delay they passed from the
house of the Secretary of Zwolle, through a
lane, and thus avoiding the streets crowded
with his friends, quietly gained the Hall.^

As once again he crossed the threshold of

' Now (1896) the Stadhuis, or "Bureaux van het provinciaal
Bestuur van Overyssel." In the library are many contemporary
publications regarding Baron van der Capellen.

^6 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

that beautiful room where every third year the
States of Overyssel met, bearing with him the
laurels of his three-fold toils for the recognition
of the United States, the abrogation of the
Corvees, and the better security for the rights
of all regents involved in his own restoration,
he was yet outwardly unmoved. Silently he
bowed to the Assembly, silently again he
bowed to the presiding officer's welcome, and
then with the other members, many of whom
had been unable to hide their emotion, went
from the Stadhuis by the main door to the
Sassenstraat, thronged with exulting citizens
who blessed their Father, henceforth to live
for them/

" It seems to me a dream," he wrote Trum-
bull, " an illusion, to see illuminations on my
account, and to hear along the streets a vivat
Capellen, instead of a vivat Oranje.^'

Those persons who wish to lend us money, wrote
Adams, and are able to lend us any considerable sum
are the Patriots who are willing to risk the resent-
ment of the British and the Stadtholder for the sake

' Van der Kemp. The full details, parliamentary and otherwise,
are given in his Capellen Regent.

POLITICAL WORK AND FRIENDSHIPS. "J J

of extending the commerce, strengthening the po-
Htical interest and preserving the hberties of their
country.

While Capellen was too conscientious not to
seek these advantages for his people as a duty,
his deliofht seems to have been to break his
lances for those new doctrines of human rights
for which, like van der Kemp, and, as van der
Kemp would have us believe, many another,
was willing to sacrifice everything. So also
in matters of faith. Personally "a conscien-
tious believer according to the doctrines of
the Synod of Dort," he was liberal towards
those who differed, and in his political career
always stood for complete religious freedom.

His objects were the same as van der Kemp's,
and like him, and most of their party, he sought
them only by strictly constitutional steps.

In the judgment of a Hollander of our own
time, Capellen's master motive was to fill a
sphere of activity useful and comformable to
his situation. He was undoubtedly regarded
as a o^reat man. He was the first who tried to
give the Patriot party a national organisation,

78 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

he honestly believed in his reforms, and how-
ever his policy as to France may be criti-
cised, it is conceded to have been prompted
by the purest patriotism. Of its influence on
American affairs, Mr. Adams wrote to van der
Kemp years after, that the separation of the
Dutch

from England, Union with France and Spain and
their Treaty with us was the event which ultimately
turned the scale of the American Revolutionary
War and produced the Peace of 1783. But the
truth is, that neither France, nor England, nor the
friends of France or England in America would
even acknowledge it to be of any weight. And
consequently it has fallen into total oblivion — But
in some future day it may be thought of more
importance.'

Eighteen months only of life now remained
to Baron Johan Derk. Reckless of increasing
ill health, far from strong, the more he was
drawn into politics the less he regarded fatigue.
His correspondence grew, he made frequent
trips to Holland and other of the Provinces in
all weathers and usually on horseback, besides

' January 3, 1823, MS. letter, Penna. Hist. Soc.

POLITICAL WORK AND FRIENDSHIPS. 79

constantly making addresses, all for the Patriot
cause, and still was he " contraband with all
attached to the Court."

After the death in 1 780 of his father, who
bequeathed him only "lands lying here and
there, all neglected to the greatest degree,"
Capellen had lived chiefly at Appletern, a
property inherited from his mother, " a large
manor-house embosomed in tall thickets near
its village, whose lords were early famous in
the Gelder Wars," though in 1783 and 1784
his public duties must have called him to
Zwolle or Deventer or Kampen whenever the
States of Overyssel met.

In May, 1784, he was with his wife and
daughter at the house of his kinsman, friend,
and Baron Pallandt van Zuithem in Zwolle.
Here the last letter of his immense correspond-
ence was written from his bed, giving in ex-
cuse for its tardiness a pathetic account of his
sufferings, after which he discusses the public
matters still so near his heart. One week later
he sank under a sudden rheumatic attack, " ex-
piring calmly on the 6th of June, with a smile,

8o FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

encouraging and consoling his friends to the
end." He was buried in the family vault in
the church at Gorsel/ Shortly after, how-
ever, his widow with Baron van der Capellen
of Marsch and his brothers, being opposed, as
he was, to intra-mural interment, built a new
family vault in the open field near the village.
Here they now laid his remains, and hither
within a year his wife was brought to rest
beside him.

In the autumn of 1787, however. Count van
Rechteren Westerveld, who had married their
only child, removed the bodies, and, it was said,
to the ancestral grave in the church itself, for
unknown and hostile hands had already muti-
lated the escutcheon on the wall enclosing the
new burial-place, though for a time it was pro-
tected from further outrage by a detail of
cavalry.

' Gorsel is easily reached by carriage from Zutphen. The road
passes a cemetery, enclosed and locked, on the left, before entering
the little hamlet, which embraces a few houses, a substantial school-
house, a pretty inn — De Roskam — under a wide-spreading tree, and
the church. This is very small, and Protestant in every line and
tint of its simple interior. On the wall, over the corner pew, to the
right of the little pulpit with steps and sounding-board, is the monu-
ment of the van der Capellen family.

POLITICAL WORK AND FRIENDSHIPS. 8 1

On the night of August 7, 1788, the birth-
day of the Princess of Orange, and the eve of
the day on which Baron van der Capellen of
Marsch was sentenced to death, the whole
structure was blown with gunpowder to the
four winds of heaven.

To-day the stranger who asks in Gorsel for
the tomb of Baron van der Capellen of Pol is
led to the tiny church, and is shown a marble
on the wall. It has a long inscription to cer-
tain members of the family of another line, the
latest date 1 786, but no word on its wide blank
spaces of the bold liberal who helped the
struggling American colonies.

If here indeed he lies, the genius of Amer-
ica might well take up her style, and fill the
silent tablet with a tribute to his name.

The Patriot movement is said " to have
aided the disintegration of the old Republic
and to have produced nothing stable, and to
have been speedily forgotten," possibly be-
cause it has also been forgotten that popular
representation, no military usurpation of civil
authority, and the freedom of the press won

82 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

are matters of course, instead of being the
watchwords of a perilous cause, to which the
Patriot Regents solemnly pledged their lives
and fortunes.'

Had Baron van der Capellen lived as long
as did van der Kemp he would have seen the
demonstration of his theory of law and order
resting on the authority of the people, in the
new and wonderful political fabric which he
and his party had aided to found beyond the
Atlantic. And he would have rejoiced as did
van der Kemp and Mappa in 1814, when with
" tears of joy and gratitude " they received in
their American home the news of the inde-
pendence of the Netherlands and the announce-
ment of the new Dutch government, although
it was with the person of a king. This was
not, as has been assumed, because they had
come to a different mind, but because with
William I. was granted a constitution which
brought in its train liberty greater than that
of which the most ardent Patriots had ever
dreamed.^

' See "Acte de Confederation entre un grand nonibre de Regens-
patriots." M^moires, R. J. van der Capellen. " Sillem.

III.

GOWN AND SWORD.

IN his ministry at Leyden van der Kemp, it
is said, remarked that he sought to make
not only good Christians, but good citizens ;
be that as it may, his sermons dealt much with
politics. Believing with all the Patriots that
the danger of a standing army could be best
averted by the existence of an armed citizen
force or militia, according to the eighth article
of the Union of Utrecht (the point of depart-
ure of their party, which considered its neglect
a great national calamity), he aided to form
and maintain at Leyden the Society of Man-
ual Exercise for Freedom and Fatherland,
one of the many militia companies springing
up throughout the country. It is said that,
once his morning service finished, his habit
was immediately to place himself in uniform

84 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

at the head of the Schuttery. To the censure
which followed he was indifferent, but when
the Council of the city refused to support a
petition for various redresses headed by him
and signed by three hundred and eleven other
burghers, he offered his resignation to the So-
ciety, stating also in a published letter that
" he is no longer of use, and that his duties as
husband and father oblige him to leave all
else, and confine the circle of his activity to
that of his family and friends."

Having, however, received the permission of
the people of his congregation to leave Leyden
for a time to settle the estate of a relative, he
came no more. In vain they hoped he would
again take up his pastoral staff, but he headed
a Vry corps at Wyk to Duurstede, and from
now on was simply a Vry-corpist}

" Alternately cursed and blessed, mocked
and praised, enigmatical like many men in
that time of perplexity, he was to play a not
unimportant part in this revolution which made
an end of the old commonwealth and was to

' Vry corps. A sort of voluntary army, recruited among the Pa-
triots and sustained by them. See De Witt.

GOWN AND SWORD. 8$

prepare a new order." In spite of his resolve
he had returned to public life, and now was re-
garded as a leader of the opposition in the
city of Wyk, which since September, 1783,
had been very restive. Van der Kemp com-
manded its corps of green jagers, and though
the Utrecht government ordered it disbanded,
the members one and all voted to continue to
serve under him.

The autobiography continues :

Not long after I accepted the invitation to a din-
ner from Commodore Gillon, and accompanied by
Dr. Roeland de Kruyst went to Amsterdam once
more, and made my first step on an American bot-
tom, the South Carolijia, on the Y, where the Com-
modore welcomed us.

I supplied now occasionally the Political Carrier,
the Post of the Lozver Rhiiie, and U Observateur
Franqais with different articles, which too often
wanted only the name to prove by whom they were
written.

In 1785 the editor of the Political Carrier being
criminally prosecuted and imprisoned, I raised my
voice in his defence in a letter printed in the Post
of the Lower RJiiiie. I regretted that H. Calkoen,
an eminent civilian, whom I respected, had been
lured to defend the prosecution. He felt himself

86 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

hurt, although I had exerted myself to avoid as-
perity, but he was engaged for once in a bad cause.
He replied with some acrimony in several letters.
I answered ; R. Schimmelpenninck,' then a student
at law, supported me; and Mr. J. C. Hespe'' was
acquitted and enlarged, and wrote then with greater
ease and more liberty than ever before.

Now I published the History of the Admission of
Johan Derk, Baron van der Capellen of Pol, into the
Equestrian Order of Overyssel ; after a short inter-
val of time, a Defence of Colonel Alexander Baron
van der Capellen, formerly Chamberlain of his High-
ness the Prince of Orange ; and lastly, with P. Vreede
and P. van Schelle, Catalogue raisomie des Tableaux
of the persons and distinguished partisans of the
House of Orange, in answer to one given by the
Court party to delineate the leaders of the Patriot
party ; while in the same view, at the same time,
another answer appeared from the united labours of
Messrs. Turck and Spaen, both Judges of the Su-
preme Court, assisted by my friend P. Paulus, with-
out any previous concert. In this manner, always
hurrying forward with a firm and deliberate step, I
approached the end of my literary career ; but was
day by day deeper entangled in the political laby-
rinth, till at length it became utterly impossible to
extricate myself if I had been willing. Once I tried
it in earnest, but in vain.

' Rutger Jan. Later one of the most distinguished men of Hol-
land. Died. 1825.

* Jan Christiaan Hespe, an Amsterdam lawyer who was a Patriot,
and edited the Politicke Kruijer.

GOIV/^ AND SlVOIiD. 87

Our militia was organized ; we, literally three in-
dividuals only at the beginning, formed the plan
and executed it, viz.: P. Vreede and Ph. Jur. On-
daetje' of Utrecht, and myself. Soon Gordon ''joined
his efforts to ours ; our friend Mappa promoted the
same plan at Delft, and organized soon an excellent
corps by his superior military knowledge, as he after-
wards disciplined the small army which he com-
manded as chief.

I was associated with nearly every corps in any
manner distinguished. Utrecht was thoroughly rev-
olutionized ; but it was a revolution constitutionally
begun and finished without a shadow of disorder,
without injuring any individual's property, without
spilling one single drop of blood. In the city of
Wyk,'' as Calkoen sneeringly expressed it, " Nothing
was done, or all was done, van der Kemp iDiico
consuley Many of my best friends lamented that I
went too far ; I that they fell short. " Never by
halves " was my motto ; and I did not even suspect
that anything feasible was impossible, if we sincerely
exerted our whole strength for its execution. I was
opposed. I hated the British influence then so pre-
dominant at the Court, but could not bear that of

' Probably Pieter Philip Jurian Quint Ondaatje. See De Witt, p.
xxiii.

' Otto Derek, Colonel of the Pro Patria Club at Utrecht, and
Captain-Lieutenant of the Cross Bow Company. He became well
known in 1784 as a Patriot, and at the turn of affairs had to suffer,
and his property was confiscated. His subsequent career is unknown.

^"1785, Aug. I. I was unanimously elected Captain of the Pro-
vincial Drilled Society Pro Pace et BcUo of Wyk near Duurstede."

88 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

France. I knew and prognosticated that they would
betray us, notwithstanding La Vauguyon's' assur-
ances and Mont-Morin's '^ promises ; I warned my
friends in time, but Cassandra's voice was raised
in vain. The cause was, they were worthy men,
mistrusted a fickle populace and many of its unprin-
cipled leaders: they wished to humiliate the Stadt-
holder, but declined, and were really averse to give
better pledges for our own privileges and rights
than their good faith. I left them, to appearance
without regret, but lamented in my soul that fatal
schism ; I joined openly the Democratic party pre-
vailing in Utrecht, yet hoping, though it was hope's
glimmer in the socket, to save the whole by a timely
reconciliation of all the dissenting parts.

[Leyden, December, 1785.

So soon as I can persuade my wife to leave this
place, I shall have the honour to ask for letters to
America, though I fear that political affairs will not
permit me so long a sojourn in this country, if I
survive the hope of re-establishing liberty.

October 31, 1786.

For four years the state of this Republic compared
with the United States has made me wish to change
my dwelling, and the persuasion of the impossibility
of supporting myself in America without property
has prevented, though this would not have hindered

' French Ambassador at the Hague.

"^ Montmorin Saint Herem, Armand Marc, Comte de. Succeeded
Vergennes as French Minister for Foreign Affairs.

GOWN AND SWORD. 89

my retraitc had either the Stadtholder or the aristo-
crats dealt the fatal blow to liberty. My fortune is
now bettered, I hope it would suffice to support my
wife and children in Europe. Could I live honestly,
with ease, dignity, and reputation, on a property of
16,000 or 17,000 florins, or 700 or 800 florins a year, in
America? If this income will suffice, other families
will follow, and this hope will encourage my dear
wife. I prefer the country as cheaper, and hope to
persuade my wife to go, to be happy in a free
country, and to find there fairer fortune for her
children. I would sell furniture, library, prop-
erty, immobile, so as to embark in May or June,
1787.^

Things turn badly here, we have already arranged
our domestic affairs in these two cities [Utrecht and
Wyk], but to what purpose, since we are always in the
same peril, the Provincial grievances still unredressed,
and the troops whom we must watch night and day
continue cantonne's dans le plat pays}^

I knew that de Gyzelaer, van Berckel, Luzac, and
Cau ^ ever remained my ardent and sincere friends

'v. d. K. to Adams, MS. letters. From the original French.

^ Jan Jacob Cau of Stellendam — born 1750 — lived at his country-
place, " the house of Ter Horst" near Voorschoten, not far from Ley-
den, where he had taken the degree of Doctor of Laws, though he
did not practise the profession. He was devoted to the Patriot
cause, and was in 1786 a member of the Committee of Defence. In
1787 he sought to promote the negotiations at Paris, but later with-
drew from all political activity. He was an upright, candid, and
charitable man. He seems never to have forgotten his old friend
van der Kemp, who often mentions him in later years. He died at
Ter Horst in 1836.

90 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

and were not scared at the mob, wherever it stood.
Ere long the scabbard was thrown away ; the first
blow was intended by the Stadtholder, and received
by him, and severely felt. A compromise was pro-
posed by a deputation from the States of Groningen
and Overyssel ; I was sent as a delegate from Wyk
to this congress. We consented to abstain from
hostilities, neither to make use of the inundations —
the only terrible weapon in our power for our
defence, as we were left by all our friends, under
various pretexts, to defend ourselves — while they
engaged solemnly from their side not to commit any
hostilities during this truce. Notwithstanding this
pledged faith, for which the above said deputies of
two provinces had made themselves responsible, our
weak and nearly defenceless city was on the third
night after this congress, under cover of a deep
darkness, nearly surrounded by a military force of
1500 men with six pieces of heavy artillery and two
mortars.

The pusillanimous Magistrates cried incessantly
" Open the gates, open the gates ; do not sacrifice
our wives and children, the military will do us no
harm," and indeed the commanding officer. Baron de
Quadt, had solemnly engaged by an officer sent for
this purpose, " that he only came by order of his
Highness, to garrison the city," and assured by
mouth my friend de Nys ' on his honour, that, if he

' Adrian de Nys, in 1787 commander at Wyk, taken prisoner, re-
moved to Amersfoort and confined in the Haazenberg, Town Hall
of Utrecht with van der Kemp. Neither was set free until each had

GOWN AND SWORD. 9 1

was admitted without resistance, no person within
the city should be injured in his person or estate. I
tried in vain to raise their spirits ; in vain I called
duty and honour to my aid ; they vociferated louder
and more and more ; the confusion increased ; noth-
ing was heard but " Open the gates " ; so that even
my friend de Nys, the first in command, would have
given way. I then took boldly the lead, and told
the Magistrates that they were in office and should
be obeyed, but only on written orders duly signed
by their Secretary ; and that if they hesitated one
moment longer to give my friend that pledge that
they commanded the surrender, I should without
any further delay, command to fire. " They would
— they would — all that we might wish, but first
open the gates." " No one single moment longer
trifling ; execute this instant, or wait the conse-
quences." Then they complied with my injunc-
tions. My friend received their orders and while he
made the preparations to open the gates, 1 led the
whole of our armed force, in number about ninety
men, through the gate which was not occupied ; so
that of the whole garrison, not one remained in the
city, besides my friend de Nys, and old gentleman

given security amounting to about 49,000 guilders. When the
French invaded Holland in 1795, he aided Dumouriez, sacrificing
his fortune. Later he emigrated with his large family to Java. He
was made collector of the stamp duties at Batavia, where he died in
1830, well on in years. tie was probably the last man to wear the
old-fashioned garments and the hair in a queue : he rode a large
horse to the time of his death, and had every appearance of an
accomplished horseman and old cavalry officer.

92 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

de la Faille, whose advanced age prevented his
retreat, and myself.

This event took place on the 5th of July, 1787,
notwithstanding the declaration of the Cabinet of
Versailles of considering the beginning of hostilities
as a declaration of war, notwithstanding that we,
personally, had been taken under its special protec-
tion, and that unasked. The Count de Vergennes '
wrote especially to this point to the Due de la
Vauguyon on the 15th of March, 1786, and Monsieur
le Due permitted me when with him to copy these
interesting despatches.

While the troops marched into the city, we retired
to our lodgings, changed our military accoutrements
for our usual clothes, and waited the issue of the
catastrophe. Between seven and eight in the morn-
ing the door of our room was opened by an officer ;
but seeing us he asked pardon and retreated, saying
our landlord had not given him notice that the
room was occupied, or he should have avoided this
apparent intrusion : we requested him to enter, as
we were willing to give up the room : when approach-
ing me a little nearer, and looking at me with a
perturbed countenance, he said, " Will you deem it
not uncourteous if I ask your name? Is it van der
Kemp? My God!" he exclaimed, "must I en-
counter you in this situation?" " Art thou then,"
I replied, " Baron de Merwede ? " " Yes, the brother
of your friend ! what can I do for you ? " '" Conduct

^ Vergennes, Charles Gravier, Comte de. French Minister for
Foreign Affairs, 1774-1787.

GOIVJV AND SIVOHD. 93

US in safety to the house of our friend de la Faille."
"I shall; but there are billeted several field ofificers."
" Never mind this." He was our guide and safe-
guard. No objection was made there by any one
of the officers to our admission into our worthy
friend's family.

There were the Baron Buzek, the Viscount Colonel
de Thouars, and Lieutenant Macdonald. The house
was directly surrounded with sentinels, one at the
door of our room, with two sergeants in the entry.
We enjoyed, I may say, the polite society of these
gallant men, some of them acquainted formerly with
my father, while young Macdonald seemed deeply
interesting himself in our lot, and accompanied me
every time when I wished to walk in the garden. A
general amnesty was decreed on the 9th, and pub-
lished, in which de Nys and I were nominally com-
prehended ; but nevertheless, we were awakened
from our sleep by an adjutant of the regiment of
Baden, to prepare ourselves within an hour to be
conducted to Amersfoort, as we actually were at
three in the morning in a coach and four, surrounded
by a detachment of dragoons and two sergeants
with loaded pistols on the opposite side. At
Amersfoort we were lodged in a public building,
all surrounded with sentinels, and a guard of a
sergeant with twelve men in the adjacent room, and
two civil officers in the room which we occupied.'

The first task I performed in my confinement was

' For a detailed account see Chalmot, who describes the jeers and
insults they suffered.

94 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

to dispatch a letter to my congregation, resigning to
them my pastoral charge, which was accepted in a
most kind and flattering manner, as I was informed
by their scriba [clerk] John de Kruyft, in the name
of a full consistory.

No correspondence with our relatives was per-
mitted, except that which was inspected by the
Baron of Amerongen, Lord of Natewitsch. In-
formed that a letter of Mrs. van der Kemp was
kept back, I addressed the noble Lord in a signifi-
cant letter, urging that this limited correspondence
was offered by them, not solicited by us as a favour,
that I was very indifferent about its continuance ;
but in such a case I demanded that the letter now
withholden should be directly returned to Mrs. van
der Kemp as her property, on which they could not
make any legal claims. It was sent me the same day
by his secretary, with the apology that the contents
of the letter forbade him to send it without an
express order of the States. I will acknowledge
that the old partisans of the Prince of Orange
treated us, generally, with great courtesy, the mob
with insolence, and they who had become rene-
gadoes of the Patriot party with a rancorous malice.

Nothing in the meantime was left untried to lure
and persuade Mrs. van der Kemp to appeal to the
Prince Stadtholder, and solicit his intercession. But
your dear mother, so worthy your ardent love, so
deserving your reverential regard, withstood even
the entreaties of her own brother,' then a member of

' Peter Anthony Vos, 1 731-1792.

to '?' congregation, rt

tl ich was ace

. jiidence with our relatives was per-

^^pt that which was inspected by the

_ Amerongen, Lord of Natewitsch. In-

vi that a letter of Mrs. van der Kemp was

l>L back, I addressed the noble Lord in a signifi-

mt letter, urging that this Hmited correspondence

was offered by them, not solicited by us as a favour,

that I was very indifferent about its continuance ;

but in ^9^nms!^W^mMwdf7^^iM>^d!f;Mm/^,('-^)^/io\v

W l^^oUA^f trait paifite^i' \itiring Ms in^thnm'e'ht iH fhe" •ffotazY^rg
d ' ' (a part of the old Town Hall of Utrecht), and given to ' :>t
his wife by a number of his friends. y

partisans

y with a
.mtime \y e

a der K •'

I ;id solici

your ;, so w^ ident love, so

desc" - .everenti: ithstood even

the e of her own n a member of

' Peter Anthon

GOWN AND SWORD. 95

the States General. Her firmness was as unshaken
as her love.

Many books have been published in Holland
upon these times and events, in which much can
be found to illustrate and make clearer van der
Kemp's story. Beginning with the reign of Wil-
liam v./ though the other Courts of Europe far
outshone the Hague in splendour of installa-
tion, yet during the first ten years under this
Stadtholder, the gay little Dutch capital is said
to have yielded to none in the brilliance of its
festivities, which had also, according to a con-
temporary, the added and rarer quality of
being extremely amusing. Wow however, the
clouds had gathered, and the two parties.
Patriot and Orange, had formed outside, while
within, German intrigues divided the Orange
adherents yet again into the factions of the
Prince and the Princess. Apparently united in
their domestic life, in politics it was otherwise.
The Prince was amiable and irresolute, his
wife clever and ambitious, and gradually she
usurped an influence and authority damaging

' See H. van A., Uit de Gedetikschriften,

96 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

to his prestige. His audience room became
deserted as hers was more and more crowded.
Yet party hatred laid all unpopular measures
at her door, while she alienated even those old
Orange supporters who attached themselves
exclusively to the House, not necessarily to
its members by marriage.

When finally the States of Holland deprived
the Stadtholder, together with other rights, of
the command of the garrison of the Hague, the
Prince, deeply injured, in spite of his wife's
opposition, departed to Nymegen, where again
the ancient town of Charlemagne was filled
with the life and the parade of the Court.

Utrecht now became more than ever the
centre of the Patriotic activity, Amersfoort,
fourteen miles away, that of the Orange party ;
both took on a military air, and by the begin-
ning of 1787 it seemed as if, before the year
ended, a oreneral civil war would break out.

Frederick the Great, though often remon-
strating with Holland, had nevertheless stayed
his hand, seeing, as it was said, little to gain
for Prussia, and caring less for a woman who

GOIVAT AND SWORD. gj

meddled with politics, and trampled on her
husband's prerogative. Splendidly as he had
once been received at Het Loo, he would
never repeat his visit, nor take up his niece's
quarrel.

The Princess, advised, it was said, by the En-
glish and Prussian ministers, now meditated a
step to force the States of the Province of Hol-
land to measures which should rouse her uncle
Frederick the Great to that active intervention
she had so often vainly asked. It was many
days before the Prince's consent was gained,
however, unwilling as he was to be disturbed
in the comparative tranquillity which he was
enjoying in Nymegen, and in his frequent visits
to Het Loo, " that glorious country seat in
the heart of hilly wooded Gelderland," where
he delighted in his rides through the forest,
and fishing in the Udlermeir, both more to his
taste than the hard hunting so dear to his pre-
decessors. Weary of contention, however, by
July he yielded, and early one morning Wil-
helmina and her suite drove out of the gate of
the Burg on her way to the Hague. All went

98 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

well until the frontier of Holland was more
than passed. Then the famous arrest of the
cavalcade by the troops of that Province began
a performance whose consequences were in-
deed to be tragic, but whose details would fur-
nish a comedy. Forbidden to proceed, the
Princess returned to Nymegen, inwardly well
pleased with the success of her scheme.

Her formal complaints to the States of the
Province of Holland met only with perfunctory
notice. The Patriots at first seemed to triumph,
but at the moment when hope all but failed
the Stadtholder, Frederick the Great died,
and the new King of Prussia found it con-
venient to demand an dclatante satisfaction for
the insult to his sister.

History tells us how the Province of Holland
refused, how she strengthened her army, ex-
amined her dykes, and prepared for the worst,
while the Patriot party, already drilled and
armed, claimed the promised aid of France.
But France made no sign, and the Prussian
troops under the reigning Duke of Brunswick,
who had prudently consulted the moon and

GOWN AND SWORD. 99

the tides, crossed the frontier. In a fortnight,
though not without bloodshed, Amsterdam was
taken, the revolution was accomplished to the
surprise of all, and " satisfaction " promised to
the Princess of Oranofe.

Van der Kemp during this time had been
detained in prison, but his autobiography gives
the course of events in their proper sequence :

When the Prussians had entered the territory of
the Republic and penetrated into the Province of
Utrecht, after the Cabinet of Versailles was lulled to
sleep by the Marquis of Dorset, while yet the lead-
ing men of the Patriot party were fed with hope
that a formidable [French] army was advancing to
their support, yea, was actually in the neighbour-
hood of St. Omer, then, after the evacuation of
Utrecht, we were in the same manner conveyed
thither, and guarded with the same care. At our
arrival in that city, where we had been so often
welcomed with hosannas, we were first conducted to
the lodgings of General Baron von Munster ' and in-
troduced into his audience room, where we met him
surrounded by a large number of ofificers and genteel
persons.

That unhappy man so far forgot his eminent
station, and put his otherwise recommendable char-
acter so far in jeopardy as to insult us. He first

' Military commander in the Province of Utrecht.

LofC.

lOO FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

mocked with unfeeling bitterness my friend de Nys
for his presenting the city of Wyk with two field
pieces ; he kept a dignified silence ; then casting a
contemptuous look upon me, said "You sir! with
your delicate pen ! It was ' Madame la Princesse I ' '
You reap now the fruits." My heart was bleeding; I
stared at him and my eye was the significant inter-
preter of its silent language. In this instant a rash
youth in regimentals struck or rather tapped my
cheek. I pitied the boy, asking him if he dared to
do this in the presence of his General ; when the
Baron ordered the officer of our guard to lead us ofT.

In the beginning of December, the ruling party
having nothing longer to fear, resolved to set us at
liberty, after we should have indemnified the State
for the losses incurred by the public during our usur-
pation, as it was termed, of the public administra-
tion, which sum was calculated at 45,000 florins.

It was about this time that Mr. van Loon, an
eminent civilian and partisan of the Stadtholder,
proposed to visit us, which was accepted. The pre-
text was the necessity to arrange some points for
our enlargement. We invited him to stay to sup-
per, which he did. He appeared careless, only in-
tended to dispel the gloom of our situation, and
cheer up our spirits. The glass went round briskly,
when, deeming it now his proper moment, he in-
quired about some publications which had given, at

' Probably referring to a description of the Princess of Orange in
the Catalogue Raisonn^, in which she was likened to Brunhilda and
Tullia, seeking power at all cost.

GOWN AND SWORD. lOI

a certain time, great offence, but which now had be-
come matters of indifference ; and we, who knew
everything, could not be ignorant in what corner
these were fabricated, and perhaps stood in some
relationship to them. I told him bluntly what share
I had in some, and which of these I claimed ex-
clusively ; then he pointed archly at one or two
treatises in the Post of the Lower Rhine. " I have no
share at all in these, sir! and of this I undertake to
convince you. Had I written these, I should have
used less management ; I should have given a few
proofs, strong as Holy Writ, in my possession, from
the archives of the county of Culemborg, which
you must know exist, and of which you cannot
doubt my knowledge, when I shall have mentioned
to you their contents." He was fully satisfied ; he
now regretted that affairs had been pushed so far on
both sides ; that the intercourse between good men
of both parties had been so far interrupted ; that no
reconciliation had become practicable ; yet he had
hope, there was some possible now. " My plan,
sir, is unalterably fixed ; if I am restored to liberty,
as I ought to be, I leave instantaneously this devoted
country, and leave it for ever." He hoped not ; I
might yet be serviceable to my country; he dared to
say I could if I would, and he offered himself sin-
cerely to effect it. I did not question his sincerity
but my resolution could not be shaken.

A few days later my Lord Athlone ' wrote a letter

' Jonkheer Frederik Christian Rynhard, Baron van Rheede en
Agrim, Grave van Athlone, Vryheer van Amerongen, Head Officer of
the city of Utrecht, 17S2.

I02 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

to Mrs. van der Kemp that we should ere long be set
at liberty. She might come and see me. She ar-
rived with her two children and one servant, who
was peculiarly attached to our family, and visited
me in my confinement. The next day was ap-
pointed for our discharge. My Lord Athlone en-
tered our room towards evening, and informed us,
that he was ordered by the States General of the
Province of Utrecht, to set us free, as he now had
the gratification to do. He conducted us down the
staircase to the coach, bid us a courteous farewell,
and said he hoped I might meet success and prosper
in another country, as he heard that I was resolved
to leave my own. At the house of my friend de Nys,
who had generously defrayed all the expenses during
our captivity, and paid our heavy ransom,' a numer-
ous company of our acquaintances and friends were
convened. I made all speed to dress me for my jour-
ney, entered the parlour, partook of a few refresh-
ments, embraced my wife, my children, my friends,
bid them all a heart-rending, last farewell and sprang
on a chariot with my friend Major de Wys, who had
served under me in Wyk, and visited me in 1790
on the North River, to be witness of my lot, and
inform my friends of my situation. We were guided
by Mr. Sylvius, a zealous Orange man, but a man of
honour and sterling worth, who promised your mother
that he would see me safe in Brabant, and this he
actually did.

' Forty-five thousand gulden each. Van der Kemp was sentenced
to leave immediately the State and Province of Utrecht, never to
return. See N. Nederl Jaarb, I'jS'j.

GOWN AND SWORD. 103

I left Utrecht on the 19th day of December, 1787
at eight o'clock in the evening, and arrived on the
2ist at Antwerp. We had slept that night at Hoog-
straeten, from whence Mr. Sylvius returned to Hol-
land ; your dear mother with you and your sister
having gone to her residence at Leyden.

I directly informed his Excellency John Adams of
my arrival in Antwerp.' He was then Ambassador
[Minister of the United States] at the Court of St.
James. He congratulated me instantaneously upon

' " Antwerp, Dec. 29, 1787.

" Last year my wife could not bring herself to resolve to seek an
asylum in the new world, and my wish to satisfy her desires made me
yield. Now fate is changed, my unhappy country is in fetters, the
best have suffered most, and I myself was a prisoner of state for 24
weeks, released Dec. 9 after having namptise i\s,ooo fl.

" The plan was to take me to Louvestein, so soon as I should have
returned to Holland, and by the counsel of my friend John Luzac, I
left the territory of the Republic, having received from my congrega-
tion at Leyden a most honourable acceptance of my resignation.

" Having lost 2000 florins per annum, we are forced to a de-
cision which I should have made long ago. America or England
are the only countries where I can live. America, the object of my
most ardent desires, will be our goal if we can live frugally in the
country, and if your Excellency will deign to honour me with letters.
Mr. [Capellen] van der Marsch now at Brussels, Mr. John Luzac at
Leyden can tell you that I am no less worthy of this favour than be-
fore, and that the necessity of surrendering a city garrisoned by one
hundred and twenty Bourgeois to fifteen hundred soldiers with a train
of artillery has not stained my character. If out of the ruins of my for-
tune I can succeed in supporting my family near Albany or in the
State of New York, it will be the fulfilment of all my wishes. I ex-
pect my wife with our two children and a servant, so soon as she shall
have sold my effects, and I hope to sail for America in March next."
— V. d. K. to Adams. From the original French MS. letter.

104 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

the unexpected event, and favoured me with a num-
ber of introductory letters to the first characters in
America.

As soon as I was a little recovered from fatigue, and
my mind again at ease, I wrote to your mother, if it
remained her firm purpose to share my fate, to sell all
our property in Leyden — house, library, collection of
statues, busts, medals, and superfluous furniture —
and convey the remainder to Amsterdam to the care
of Messrs. Wilhelm and John Willink, and then start
for Antwerp.

It was not an easy task to make a selection from a
pretty large library, of the little I intended to save,
but I succeeded once more far better than I could
have expected. All that related to divinity, ancient
and modern history, antiquities and laws of my
ci-devant country was sacrificed, a few volumes ex-
cepted, with a sufficient supply of French, English,
Italian, and German authors, and a few chosen class-
ics. It was indeed, my dear John, a pretty difficult
task without a catalogue, and yet it was performed.

In the beginning of March, 1788, your mother left
Leyden with you and your sister for Antwerp.' An
old friend, Abr. Leye conducted her thither ; that
faithful girl, who could not obtain leave from her
aged parents to follow us to America, accompanied

' My grandfather does not mention that when my grandmother
joined him in 1788 with her two children her passport was made out
under her maiden name of Vos. My dear father even at that early age
was remarkable for his veracity, and his mother with some difficulty
prevented him from announcing his real name to the officer who ex-
amined the passport. [Mrs. Bernard Henry.]

GOWN AND SWORD. \0%

her, to see me once more, and bid me a last adieu.
She returned with our friend Leye. It was painful,
painful in the extreme for both, that I was compelled
to leave Europe without a worthy and loving moth-
er's blessing, but it was unavoidable/

Having rested a few days at Antwerp, and hired a
carriage to convey us to Havre de Grace, we went to
Brussels, where we were received with open arms by
our friend the Baron van der Capellen of Marsch,
who provided me with letters of recommendation to
several distinguished characters on the Western Con-
tinent from the Marquis de La Fayette ; while he
assured me that Mr. Jefferson, then our Ambassador
[Minister] in France, would send me others at New
York.

This was the same Baron Robert Jaspar
van der Capellen of Gelderland who had stud-
ied long years ago with his cousin Johan Derk
at Utrecht.

On leaving the University, after a short
cavalry service, he entered the States of Gel-
derland, where his course during the sixteen
years of his membership seems to have been
that upon which he determined in his student
days. Liberal and Patriot, he early incurred
the Stadtholder's displeasure like his cousin

' Mrs. van der Kemp died on March 19, 1789, at Amsterdam, where
she was living with her only daughter.

I06 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

of Overyssel ; like him, also, he accepted no
Court favours. The plan of government which
he deemed the best for Holland, he stated in
a preface to the Memoirs of his ancestor Alex-
ander van der Capellen, which he published in
1778. For Americans the chief interest in his
life is that he was the first Regent in the
Seven Provinces who ventured to propose in
his Assembly the recognition of the United
States.^ This was on February 23, 1782.

When the troubles came, he was forced with
his family to leave his home in Gelderland, by
the excesses committed there in the Orange
cause, the frequent threats of pillage and
massacre, and the attempt on his son at school
in Arnheim. He first took refuge at Amster-
dam, then in Brussels in 1 788, and thence he
passed into France, Louis XVI. having prom-
ised him protection.

In August of that year the Court of Gelder-
land sentenced him to the block for rebellion ;
this was banishment. As a matter of duty
he protested against this sentence, and de-

^ Dip. Corres. Am. Rev., vol. iii., pp. 513, 562-3.

,«A

, like iiim, also, lie <
.i\ uuis. The plan of govern hk
'11 ed the best for Holland, he sic^c v^.
CO the Alemoirs of his ancestor Alex-
ander van der Capellen, which he published in
or Americans the chief interest in his
s that he was the first Regent in the
-- v- n Provinces who ventured to propose in
his Assembly the recognition of the United
States.^ This was on February 23, 1782.

forced with

licit

oj Mar sen.

C^W"^^^' ^M^- Nqw,i^n,possessi()nef Mrs. W^. E,
Ford, of Utica, Neiv York.

refuge at Amster-

d. \ in Brussels in 1788, and thence he

p; ^^ Louis XVI. having prom-

isea : on.

In ':hat year tl r.-.i,i«,-,

land itn to the _.. : ,

thio 'r-nt. ^er of duty

he protf^ and de-

: t'. 513. 562-3.

GOWN AND SWORD. XOJ

fended the Patriot's "great cause" in his Me-
moirs, pubhshed both in Dutch and French/
Little can be found in detail of his life. He
took no part in the French Revolution, for he
deplored its excesses, and was an enemy of
anarchy as of despotism. What remained of
his immense fortune he shared with his com-
panions in exile. He was born at Zutphen,
April 30, 1743, and died in the environs of
Paris — perhaps at Seve, where his work is
dated — about 1798. His descendants are liv-
ing to-day in the Netherlands.

Van der Kemp had taken the only course
open to him ; he, too, had only to fiee, he was
nowhere safe. No one had a orood word for
him save the Utrecht militia. Lampooned,
slandered as a preacher of regicide, for years
he was under a ban, and even so late as 181 7
those in Holland who remembered him, and
held him in high esteem as a defender of
religious and political freedom and a champion
of oppressed virtue, were, strange to say, afraid
to let their names be known."

' At Dunkirk and Paris, 1791. "^ Hartog.

I08 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

Many people of all classes now fled the
Seven Provinces ; the number is even estimated
at forty thousand.^

" To make up for the deplorable failure of her
policy, France gave important aid to the most
unfortunate victims," while the hope of bring-
ing back to their old allegiance the exiles of
the Edict of Nantes is said to have influenced
the Edict of November, 1787, restoring Fdiat
civil to Protestants. It was contemplated to
form new regiments for the employment of
the refugee Dutch ofificers and soldiers ; in
1788 one hundred and forty officers were ad-
mitted to the French service.^

In 1795 many of these refugees returned,
under the tricolore, across the dykes and canals
frozen by " the French winter," and with their
French generals were welcomed by the rem-
nants of the old Patriot party, and by those
who, finding the yoke of the House of Orange
too heavy to bear, were dazzled by " Liberty,
Equality, and Fraternity."

' See Davies, vol. iii., p. 545.
'^ See DeWitt, pp. 297-S.

GOWN AND SWORD. I09

The Princess of Orangre with her daug-hter
left the country, and the Stadtholder a few
hours later with his sons embarked in a fishing
smack for England never to return.

IV.
DEPARTURE FOR AMERICA.

HERE [in Brussels] a crowd of exiled Patriots
surrounded us, and regretted our final de-
parture. Our stay was but short, our feelings vari-
ous and painful ; but the die was cast ; we took then
our last farewell from respected, from beloved asso-
ciates in our toils, and from our cordial friends —
even the remembrance is painful. The generous
Jacob Hoofman, one of the zealous patrons of my
youth, sent me on the morning of our departure one
thousand guilders, to render the journey across the
Atlantic as comfortable as possible to your excellent
mother, whose courage he admired, and whose many
sacrifices had made a deep impression on his breast.
We met with no accident or adventure worth men-
tioning, and arrived in safety at Havre de Grace
at the English hotel of a Mr. White. Here we met
our countryman Messchert on his return from Russia,
Mr. Sparman, and Mr. Wadstrom, who recommended
me to the Rev. Mr. Collins at Philadelphia and the
Rev. Laur. Girelius ' at Wilmington. The first was

' Rector of Holy Trinity— Old Swedes'— Church, Wilmington,
Delaware.

DEPARTURE FOR AMERICA. Ill

a celebrated traveller ; the second a man of talents,
who presented me with a manuscript on the origin of
evil.

At Havre we had intended to take our passage
in the packet to New York, but unfortunately, it
wanted repair ; it must be coppered anew, and not
start this month. I resolved then to go to England,
and take from there our passage to the great West-
ern continent, when, unexpectedly, an American
frigate. Captain Benjamin Weeks, taking in ballast,
was recommended to us by our landlord and the
house of Ruellan & Co. We left Havre the 25th of
March, discovered land on the 4th of May,' and ar-
rived in a pilot boat at five o'clock in the afternoon
in New York Harbour. Young Curtenius (late
Major-General) accosted us, and conducted us to
the boarding house of Mr. Francis in Hanover
Square.

It is but duty, to renew the recollection, — and you
my dear John, are interested in it — of having re-
ceived numberless tender and kind attentions of
Captain Weeks.'' It is but duty to acknowledge
that we owe many great obligations to that worthy
man. He indeed was able to command ; always
cool ; joining prudence with firmness ; pious without

' His birthday. He " never wished to return,"

' " He commanded a privateer in the American War, and after
the peace was constantly employed by Messrs. John Ross and Co.
of Philadelphia, which was his home. We crossed the Atlantic
with him in the Frigate L Henriette." — v. d. K. to Adams, MS.
letter.

112 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

ostentation ; seemingly rigid in his discipline and
tuition of four apprentices, but always moderating
his sternness with complacency and heart-winning
manners. No better order could be kept in a vessel
than that which was maintained with regard to every
individual on that of Captain Weeks' ; never could a
vessel be better manned with expert sailors, or have
a more intelligent and prudent master, whose court-
esy towards us exceeded our most sanguine wishes.
He had hired, above his complement, a Low Dutch
cabin boy from Lubeck, to please your dear mother,
who understood not a word of English besides yes
and no. He dismissed us with our baggage without
payment, convincing us that this was our interest, as
I had possessed only French gold coin, of which
I had made him a tender. He would draw on me
on a house in New York, as I might propose — Con-
stable and Ruckers, or Le Roy — and mention to
his employers on his arrival at Philadelphia, his
charge for the two children, viz. half price. He did
so. A few days after our arrival in New York, I
received from him a letter, dated Philadelphia, with
a draft for the sum of our passage ; his employers,
Messrs. Ross, had ordered that no charge should be
made for you or your sister, requesting only a visit
if I came to Philadelphia.

I had not been many weeks in New York before I
received letters from Europe, and with these several
of introduction from Mr. Jefferson ; one offering me
— through my honoured and revered Master, Prof.
Oosterbaen, in the name of Prince Potemkin, to

DEPARTURE FOR AMERICA. II3

whom I had been made known by the Russian Am-
bassador [to the Netherlands] GalHtzin — the super-
intendence of a large colony of Dantzic Baptists in
the vicinity of Kherson, in the Crimea. But I, who
could not brook to stoop to my equals — except by
voluntary condescension, except to the fair ones —
could not be induced to put my shoulders under the
iron yoke of a despot, how well soever that yoke was
gilded and adorned.

I delivered my letters of introduction to the
French Ambassador, the Count Moustier, intro-
duced to him by Colonel A. Hamilton ; so I did
to General Knox, Governour Clinton, and Melanch-
thon Smith, and met with every kind of civility and
hospitable reception. It seemed as a strife among
many, who should do the most ; never can I repay
it, but never, I am confident, can it be obliterated in
my breast. No relatives, no parents could do more
than Mr. and Mrs. Clinton ; the venerable Mrs. Tap-
pan welcomed Mrs. van der Kemp as a daughter.
Both ladies and also Mrs. Hamilton, conversed with
your mother in Dutch. This was unexpected, and
enhanced yet farther the high value of their numer-
ous favours.

Had we possessed indeed the first rank and worth,
we could not have desired a more cordial, a more
distinguished reception, than we were honoured with
day after day by the families of CHnton, Knox, and
others. I sent my other letters to Colonel Jeremiah
Wadsworth, General W. Livingstone, Benjamin
Franklin, and General Washington, from whom I

114 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

received, ere long, a courteous invitation' to visit
Mount Vernon. Thitiier I went.

I stopped at Elizabethtown, visited Governor
Livingston, with whom I spent a few days in the
most agreeable manner. From his seat I pursued
my journey to Philadelphia, where I met the same
hospitable reception from a mercantile house from
Antwerp, from Benjamin Franklin, and, which should
make me blush could I pass it by in silence, from
the family of Captain Weeks, he being again on a
voyage. I acquitted myself in paying a visit to
Messrs. Ross, and so I proceeded to Baltimore, to

' Mount Vernon, May 28th 1788.
Sir:

The letter which you did me the favor to address to me on the 15th
of this inst. from New York has been duly received, and I take the
speediest occasion to welcome your arrival on the American shore.

I had always hoped that this land might become a safe & agreeable
asylum to the virtuous & persecuted part of Mankind, to whatever
nation they might belong ; but I shall be the more particularly happy,
if this Country can be, by any means useful tothe Patriots of Holland,
with whose situation I am peculiarly touched, and of whose public
virtue I entertain a great opinion.

You may rest assured Sir, of my best & most friendly sentiments of
your suffering compatriots, and that, while I deplore the calamities to
which many of the most worthy members of your Community have
been reduced by the late foreign interposition in the interior affairs
of the United Netherlands : I shall flatter myself that many of them
will be able with the wrecks of their fortunes, which may have
escaped the extensive devastation, to settle themselves, in comfort,
freedom, and ease in some corner of the vast regions of America. —
The spirit of the Religions, and the genius of the political Institu-
tions of this Country must be an inducement. Under a good gov-
ernment (which I have no doubt we shall establish) this Country
certainly promises greater advantages, than almost any other, to per-

DEPARTURE FOR AMERICA. II5

the country seat of my old Dutch friend, Adr.
Valck,' then Consul of the United Provinces, and
arrived at last at Mount Vernon, where simplicity,
order, unadorned grandeur, and dignity, had taken
up their abode. That great man approved, as well
as Clinton, my plan for an agricultural life, and made
me a tender of his services ; although in his opinion

sons of moderate property, who are determined to be sober, industri-
ous, & virtuous members of Society. And it must not be concealed
that a knowledge that these are the general characteristics of your
compatriots would be a principal reason to consider their advent as a
valuable acquisition to our infant settlement. If you should meet
with as favorable circumstances, as I hope will attend your first
operations ; I think it probable that your coming will be the harbin-
ger for many more to adventure across the Atlantic.

In the meantime, give me leave to request that I may have the
pleasure to see you at my house whensoever it can be convenient to
you, and to offer whatsoever services it may ever be in my power to
afford yourself, as well as to the other Patriots & friends to the
Rights of Mankind of the Dutch Nation.

I am — with sentiments of great

Esteem & respect
Sir
Your most obedt. & very

Hble. Servant
[Signed] George Washington.

Mr. Fr. Adr. Vanderkemp.

From copy. — Penn^. Hist. Soc. See also Sparks, Writings of
Washington, vol. ix., pp. 368-9.

' Adrian Valck. " One of our best patriots with whom I have long
had an intimate correspondence and friendship, a merchant of integ-
rity and ability, a native of Overyssel. He goes to form a business
establishment in America." — Van der Capellen. Brieven, p. 568.

Recommended to Adams (Oct., 1780) as worthy of all confidence,
and zealous for the good cause. Adams's Life and Letters, vol. vii.,
p. 317.

Il6 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

I should make a more desirable choice in the State
of New York, among the posterity of Dutchmen.

There seemed to me, to skulk somewhat of a
repulsive coldness, not congenial with my mind, un-
der a courteous demeanour ; and I was infinitely bet-
ter pleased by the unassuming, modest gentleness of
the lady, than with the conscious superiority of her
consort. There was a chosen society. Colonel Hum-
phrey was there. I was charmed with his manners,
his conversation ; he knew how to please, he knew
how to captivate, when he deemed it worth while.

After my return to New York, I made a tour with
your mother and you, leaving Bartha behind, to
Esopus to see the country ; from there we went to
Albany, Schenectady, Johnstown, Caughnawaga, so
far as Palatine Town at Major Philip Schuyler's. I
purchased at Esopus.

Van der Kemp was naturalised, together with
his wife and children, February 26, 1 789, and
bought in the following August a country-place
at Esopus, " in the manor of Vauxhall " (Fox-
hall), Ulster County, for £\\oo} In Kings-

' The Ulster County real estate records show that he bought prop-
erty from the executors of Sylvester Salisbury, and that on May 31,
1794, he sold the same. Other searches confirm the statement of an
old inhabitant, Dr. Jesse Mayer, that while living in Kingston the
family occupied the house and farm north-west of the Saugerties road,
purchased later by Christopher L. Kiersted. The house was of blue
limestone one and one-half stories high, and was pulled down in 1862.
[From letter of the late General George H. Sharpe to the editor,
Kingston, 1889.]

DEPARTURE FOR AMERICA. llj

ton his wife's kinsfolk, the Beeckmans, had long
been settled, and here with their young child-
ren Mr. and Mrs. van der Kemp lived for five
years, "greatly enjoying the beautiful North
River, the delightful mansions of its wealthy
families, and his own well-improved country-
seat."

During my first year in America I corresponded
with Peter Vreede, late of Dutch Directory, then at
Lier in Brabant at time of first Brabant Revolution.
The government interrupted all suspicious letters,
mine shared that fate, after some months Vreede
went to the Burgomaster, said there were letters for
him, as he had long expected them. — The Burgo-
master confessed, but it was only suspicious letters
written in a mysterious way and dated from
Esopus, which alone denoted that other things
were said and others understood. " Deliver me
those letters from my friend ! Good God ! Burgo-
master! Esopus is a village three thousand miles
away in America, and my friend not even thinks of
your miserable Revolution."'

In 1790 he seems to have made a trip to
the western branch of the Delaware, and in
1792 he made a journey from Kingston to

' MS. letter to Adams, Aug. 3, 1808.

Il8 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

Oswego, which he described in a series of
delightful letters.^

Van der Kemp had hoped to recover at
least part of the forty-five thousand florins
exacted at his enlargement by the States of
Utrecht, as security for so-called possible dam-
age from his action. He even thought the
United States Government might aid him, but
his request for its intercession could not be
granted.^

The autobiography continues :

After six years my small funds having greatly suf-
fered by apprenticeship in agriculture, by my im-
provements, many unavoidable, many for which this
plea could not be made, and by the unhappy pre-
judice of many that we possessed a vast fortune,
because we were treated with respect by families of
distinction, because we made no debts, because our
furniture had a more costly appearance, I left it
not without regret, for Oneida Lake.

Accordingly van der Kemp's record in the

' See Centeimial Address, Seymour, Utica, 1877.

* " By the treachery of one who called himself my friend I was de-
prived of a great part of those possessions on which I depended in
crossing the Atlantic." — MS. letter to Adams, Aug. 3, 1793. By
May, 1794, the hope that these European losses might be partly re-
paired was gone.

DEPARTURE FOR AMERICA. II9

old vellum book sa^^s : "In 1794 I and my
family moved to the West to Lake Oneida
where I settled and began to cultivate the land
in the hope of leaving thereby to my children
if my labours were blessed, an independent
estate." The year before, the anonymous
Castorland journalist had met "Mr. van der
Kemp there, . . . looking for stone to
build a stone house ; he speaks French a little,
greeted us, and was very kind."

ONEIDA LAKE.

ELKANAH WATSON in 1791 describes
Oneida Lake as " extremely turbulent
and dangerous, a small breeze producing a
short, bobbing sea in consequence of its shoal
waters," so that " the bateauxmen commonly
hug the north shore as safest as well as more
direct. . . ." He saw " two larg-e bears walk-
ing along the shore in majestic confidence,"
while on its outlet, the Onondaga River, he
passed " Indians returning from fishing ac-
companied by all their families, children, dogs,
cats, fowls, etc.," in birch canoes, which "sail
like ducks upon the water, and some of them
are whimsically painted."

On another journey thither, in 1788, Watson
had made his way westward to Whitesboro from
old Fort Schuyler, his horse " at every step sink-
ing deep in mud." Nor does he blush to record

ONEIDA LAKE. 121

his fear, when, alone In the woods, soon after
leaving the battle-ground of Oriskany, he met
a band of Indians, drunk, frantic, almost
naked, whooping, yelling, and dancing. At
Fort Stanwix, a treaty was going on "to pro-
cure a cession from the Indians of territory
lying west of Fort Stanwix to the great
lakes." The French ambassador. Count
Moustier, and his sister, the Marchioness de
Biron [Brehan] were " encamped within the
fort under a marquee formerly used by Lord
Cornwallis. This enterprising and courageous
lady had exposed herself to the greatest fa-
tigues and privations to gratify her unbounded
curiosity, by coming all the way from the city
of New York to witness this great and unusual
assemblage of savage tribes." Yet greater
than the couraQ^e of an eccentric traveller was
that of Reinira van der Kemp, who from the
delightful life of Holland, her family in Ny-
megen, her house in Leyden, that " antique
Athens of the North," came six years later to
make a home for her husband in this howling
wilderness. "Mrs. van der Kemp is great

122 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

minded enough to dare encounter this new
and difficult struggle. I have no fears for
Peace, or would not sacrifice an excellent wo-
man who has already suffered too much, on
the Frontier. A beautiful situation, fertile
soil, three children, and a selected library — my
principal comfort which I do not expect to
have to sell — will be our amusements. We
shall try to reap all possible advantages and
spread as much happiness as our narrow circle
will allow. We have little left but health,
contentment, and satiety of the more noisy
scenes of life." ^ But accustomed as both were
to every ease, adornment, and refinement
of living, the burden laid upon them at this
time of meeting the conditions of American
frontier life, with but a slender and fast-ebbing
purse for themselves and their three young
children, ^ must have weighed most heavily

^ MS. letter to Adams, May 26, 1794.

^ Peter, the youngest, born at Kingston in October, 1789, and
Cuneira Engelbartha, their only daughter, born in Leyden, February
17, 1785, both died unmarried ; John Jacob, the eldest, was born
at Leyden, April 22, 1783. He married in Philadelphia: first, Frances
Taylor; second, Eliza Hepburn, by whom he had three children:
Pauline Elizabeth, Bertha Frances, and John Jacob.

ONEIDA LAKE. 12 S

upon Mrs. van der Kemp, then already in her
forty-seventh year. She bore it with honour
to her race.

Reinira Engelberta Johanna Vos, daughter
of Jacob Vos and his wife, Cuneira Beeckman,
was born December i6, 1746. Her father
was " old Burgomaster " of Nymegen, and
many of her kinsfolk were well known not
only in the church, but in civic affairs and in
the army. The most famous of her ancestors
was the well-known scholar Smetius,^ whose
granddaughter Mechteld married Reynier
Beeckman, connected with the distinguished
branch of that family in America, and was
the grandmother of Reinira, who on May 20,
1782, married Francis Adrian van der Kemp.

No letters of hers exist, and she is but a
shadowy figure, though there remain many
of her beautiful personal belongings, and fine
portraits of her family that show her degree.
In her husband's political troubles in Holland,

'Johannes Smetius, or Smith, in his later life became pastor of
the Reformed Church at Nymegen. Versed in classics and Oriental
languages, he was an oracle even to foreign scholars in his know-
ledge of Roman antiquities, an dhis unequalled collections were vis-
ited by hundreds of travellers. He died, 1651.

124 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

she Stood gallantly by him, none the less so in
his long course against the steady head winds
of later life in America. Much devolved upon
the mistress of a household under even the
easiest circumstances a century ago in the old
States ; and at such a place as Kempwyk a
woman's task was a much heavier one. Be-
sides the care of the health of the family, and
the responsibility of the children, only by her
supervision might be had the full storeroom,
the spotless house, the clear wick, the bright
hearth, and the ever-ready welcome for a
friend, or a friend's friend, arriving unexpect-
edly over miles of bad frontier roads. Under
her eye was often a "spinning woman," and
sometimes even a loom. In days when every-
thing had to be done by hand, or not at all,
this personal care meant such economy as lies
seldom within a woman's power to-day ; it was
universally practised, and no one was probably
more equal to it than this Holland-bred lady.
At hours when all was in train, often a book
read aloud by one of the family best lightened
the monotony of her tireless needle, unless it

ONEIDA LAKE. 1 25

were broken by the joyful arrival of visitors,
or by the post-rider with Cottranten, and letters
like the following ^ :

31 Ap., 1795.

Dear S'^ :

About an hour ago I had the pleasure of Receiv-
ing your Pleasing favour, many things have conspired
to prevent the Pleasure of writing to my absent
friend — among these are want of health, lack of
opportunity and a most dreadful disease of the mind
called Procrastination.

We are all here in Joy. The successes of the
French are astonishing. History presents nothing
like it. Holland is now completely emancipated.
The Tiranical Stadholder is fled with all his adher-
ents and perfect Liberty is established, properly
sacred to the proprietors, not the least cause for
complaint. They talk of recalling there Virtuous
Banished Patriots, are not you, Sf of that descrip-
tion ? Who knows but yr. affairs may have a much
Brighter aspect in future, and merit like yours not to
be shut up on the Oneida Banks, and you and y."
lady shine in your Respective Circles as in past
times. ... I thank you S' for your good opin-
ion of my son Edward's Election, if Virtuous prin-
ciples joined to a clear head will recommend him to
his fellow citizens confidence, he will assuredly have
it. I am on the wing for Clermont, sick of the Town

' Miss Julia Livingston Delafield has kindly allowed this letter to
be printed.

126 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

and its foolish ostentation by displaying food for
vanity, and on the part of some Individuals not able
to support the farce long. Sick of speculations, and
an unbounded avarice which is insatiable and only fed
by repeated accumulations, what pleasure can a city
yield to one who detests such hateful passions, and
with all their wealth they are strangers to true hap-
piness. I am grateful to my Father who has saved
his child from such attachments and given me a
sweet retirement, where peace, harmony, and con-
tent occupy the mind with gratitude to the Supreme
good — please to present me affectionately to my
cousin y." Lady and believe me to be S' with great
esteem yours

Respectfully

M. Livingston.'
Mr. F. A. VAN DER Kemp.
Kempwick

Oneida Lake
County of Herkimer.

Though Oneida Lake was then the thorough-
fare to the West and Canada, and the course
lay along this northern shore where the navi-
gation was best, Liancourt says that, except
this farm and Rotterdam, which has, beside a
fine frame house that Scriba Is building, only

' Margaret Beeckman, one of the most distinguished women of her
day, wife of Judge Robert R. Livingston, and mother of Chancellor
Livingston. Both at New York and Clermont, she showed great
hospitality and kindpess to Mr. and Mrs. van der Kemp.

ONEIDA LAKE. 12/

a dozen wretched log houses — on ne voit pas
2i7ie seule maison, ten seul defrichement sur ancun
bord du lac, — des bois dt erne Is, des terres vzedi-
ocres}

Yet this had begun to be a promising point
on the frontier, and van der Kemp, foreigner
though he was, sympathised not with the mat-
ter-of-fact views of Liancourt, but with the
hopes of Scriba — George Scriba, a New York
merchant who, in 1 790, had bought half a mil-
lion of acres in this part of the State, a Patent
still known by his name. Van der Kemp built
here, on a point of land four or five miles east of
Rotterdam, and about a mile beyond Bern-
hard's Bay, a house described by the owner of
the land in 1897 as having been sixty feet by
twenty-two, and made of logs squared at the
ends, with three rooms in front, the middle one
a hall with a staircase. Separate from what
was always understood in old times as "the
house," doubtless there was also a wing for
the negroes, of whom tradition says many were
employed.

' See Liancourt, Voyage, etc. vol. ii., p. 261.

128 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

The chicken house was sixteen feet square,
with a peak for pigeons. The barn, resembling
those in Holland, was sixty by twenty-six feet ;
six feet high at the eaves and eighteen for
main posts.

This property he named Kempwyk. Here
from the door in summer, across the road and
the clearings, one might look over the shallow
water of the wide blue lake, broken with beds
of rushes, and watch perhaps a bear swimming
across to the island of de Wattines, " the fa-
vourite haunt of myriads of water fowl."

The lovely line of the Canaseraga Hills,
which van der Kemp recognised as an ancient
shore of Lake Ontario, bounded this southern
view. To the west, beyond the old British
frontier post of Fort Brewerton, which kept
the orate of the Osweo^o River and the "Ontario
Ocean," was high land. To the east, where
the royal blockhouse, by that time in ruins,
had commanded Wood Creek, the waterway
to the Mohawk and the Hudson, the land was
low as it was to the north.

The lake swarmed with fish, the deer came

ONEIDA LAKE. 1 29

Up to the houses, the woods were full of par-
tridges ; wild pigeons, wild ducks flew over
spring and fall. Then, too, passed the wild
geese, with a clamour which, like the laugh of
the loon and the roar of the frogs, must have
astonished the strangers had they not heard
the same on the North River, while in the
moonless spring evenings lights crept over the
dark, still water, as the Indians speared salmon
by pine-knot torches in the bows of their
canoes.^

Rotterdam, at the Oneida Lake.
The situation is delightful, land rich
enough, my seat could have every improvement of
taste were my finances equal. . . .

I have been imposed upon by the men who con-
tracted for clearing a great part of the land and who

' DeWitt Clinton.

The salmon then ascended the Oneida Creek as far as Stockbridge.
In the Canaseraga Creek (one of the chief tributaries of the lake)
they ran up above its junction with the Chittenango Creek, as far
as the Chittenango Falls, the height of which, 140 feet, stopped their
progress. At the foot of these falls an old inhabitant of Cazenovia,
Mr. John Hatch, stated that he had often killed the fish, and that in
Oneida Lake itself the seines were frequently too heavy with them
to be drawn. Van der Kemp procured in great detail the rules for
smoking salmon as practised in Holland, believing that with proper
protection and curing, the fish "would become a gold mine for that
part of our State." See MS. letter, 1817, to Clinton. Library of
Columbia University. — Ed.

130 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

have left it almost untouched — a considerable loss.
. . . Mrs. van der Kemp is still at Mr. G. Boon's
in Service's [Patent] with the family of Mr, Mappa,
where she will stay till I have a convenient log house
for temporary residence, and the out houses. She
is resolved to make more sacrifices, and yet more if
necessary, but to avoid this, I will sell my library,
to repair part of my loss, and make my retirement
more comfortable to my worthy consort used to a
nobler manner of living. , . . Belles lettres, ancient
and modern languages, first and magnificent editions
neatly bound — I value the library between 400 and
500;^ and shall prepare the catalogue this winter
and, in spite of discouragements, . . . the study of
government, agriculture, education of my children,
make me happy. '

In September, 1794, he was appointed As-
sistant Justice of the Peace,^ after which no
letter breaks the silence until October 3, 1795.

Uninterrupted labour has been required to make
my family subsist more comfortably in the woods.
Mrs. van der Kemp with her children has had this
season a severe illness by which my own health is
impaired — I wish to establish if possible some order
and decency in the court where ignorance and
stupidity prevail, and I have had labour, the unre-
lented endeavours to establish and organize a Society

' MS. letter to Adams, 28 Aug., 1794.
" He declined the reappointmeot in 1798.

ONEIDA LAKE. 131

of Agriculture and Natural History in which I suc-
ceeded for a part. My circumstances forbid me
farther intercourse after its organization.

In 1795, van der Kemp had called a meeting
at Whitesboro, to be held at Colonel White's
tavern, on the 7th of April, for the purpose of
forming an Agricultural Society for the West-
ern District of New York. In his address he
praises the cheerfulness and courage of the
settlers, while he criticises their bad farming,
bad drainage, indolence, and waste. He urges
the formation of agricultural societies, new
tools, new seeds, the use of natural history in
all her extensions, meteorological observations,
prizes for papers on these subjects, in Dutch,
Latin, or French, and correspondence with
the great foreign societies of London, Amster-
dam, Gottingen, Berne, and Paris.

After the hard work of ororanisino- and es-

o o

tablishing the society, trusting that " in time a
more permanent and lofty edifice may rise on
the foundation " he laid, he does no more, as his
situation " requires a continued attendance, and
the avoidance of the smallest extraordinary

132 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

expenses." In his address one can see how he
tries to make the best of it, as he describes the
happiness of seeing the first cleared meadows,
the first harvest, every new bird, reptile,
plant, fossil, the anatomy of a single leaf.
The farmer at the noontide rests under a grreat
oak with his book — his Thompson or Milton —
in his hand, or fishes in the stream. In the
evening he instructs his family in duties of rural
and domestic life, laws, and governments, or
studies Sydney, Locke, Montesquieu, Adams,
and blesses the country life and the lonely
woods. One would say he ought to bless
Jean Jacques also for giving him this point
of view, so new then to mankind.

Like Lafayette's of^cers, he " saw every-
thing through Rousseau-tinted spectacles."
Liancourt, however, said it was only avec les
silcles futurs que V imagination doit vivre sielle
veut sexercer dans ces nouvelles contrdes. But
there was one a few years later whose imagina-
tion revelled in the present. Whether Chateau-
briand really journeyed through these lovely
forest waters, and listened to the whippoorwill

ONEIDA LAKE. I 33

from his camp by the outlet of the Lake of the
Onondagas, still as a mirror in the magnificent
summer evening ; whether he really visited the
old Iroquois chief, saw the French veteran
teaching the Indians to dance after his violin,
and heard the music of Paisiello and Cimarosa
in the log huts of the pioneers, has not remained
unquestioned. Yet his description ^ shows at
least how the fancy of the Old World once
kindled at the vision of the New.

But before any traveller could have gone
so far as to be startled at nio^ht in the forest
by the distant thunder of Niagara, he left
behind him the friends of the Dutch exiles on
Oneida Lake, and we must turn Eastward to
find them.

In their immediate vicinity, at New Rotter-
dam, lived George Scriba,' a much valued
friend, and at Bernhard's Bay, near Kempwyk,

' See M^tnoires D' Outre Tonibe, vol. ii., p. 211 et seq.

'In 1794 George Scriba caused a settlement to be made on
Oneida Lake, which he called New Rotterdam (now Constantia).
In 1795 he began another town on the shore of Lake Ontario, which
he called Vera Cruz, and where he put up mills, a store, and other
buildings. An active trade on the Lake from that point began, and
for some years the Northern Vera Cruz bid fair to become a formid-
able rival of Oswego, and the most important commercial station on

134 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

where now a solitary Lombardy poplar stands
by the beach of the lake with an air of vielle
soucke, was the house of Mr. Bernhard, who
followed van der Kemp to this country, and
who never left this " noble farm."

Not an intimate, although living near them,
was Angel de Ferrier of Niort, Department
des Deux Sevres, France. He had been an
officer in the King's Life Guards, and was only
three and twenty when he escaped in 1 792 from
Paris to Holland. There some members of
the Holland Land Company suggested that
he try his fortunes in America. Landing at
New York, and coming first to Cazenovia, he

the Lake. A few other settlements were made at other points in
Oneida before 1800, principally under his auspices. One of his
enterprises was a four-rod highway, twenty miles long, from Rotter-
dam to Vera Cruz, at which latter place it was said that in 1S04 more
merchandise was sold than at Oswego or Utica, and in the belief of
many persons it was destined to command the trade of Canada and
the West. At the time of the purchase his fortune was estimated at
$1 , 500,000, which made him one of the richest men of his time, but later
all was swallowed up in his efforts to promote the interest of the infant
settlements, and he died at Constantia, Aug. 14, 1836, a poor man.

He came to New York with his brother Frederick from Frankfort
on the Main before the Revolution, and established a successful
banking house in this city. He married ist. Sarah, daughter of
James Dundas ; 2nd, her sister Eliza, widow of his partner, F. W.
Starman. See A^f w York Evefiing Post, Nov. i, 1878.

ONEIDA LAKE. 1 35

settled after his marriage at Wampsville, where
he invested his patrimony in the " best land,"
owning before his death some three thousand
acres. His return to France, where he went
to receive his inheritance, was, it has been said,
connected in some way with the pretensions of
Eleazar Williams to be Louis XVI I. Williams
was then living as a missionary among the
Oneida Indians, near de Ferrier, and as much
mystery has been thrown around his person-
ality as around that of Louis Anathe MuUer,
who some years later was lavishing money on
his secluded home in the wild southern part
of Madison County. The belief grew that
he too was of the royal family of France,
whither he went again after 1814.^

James Donatianus Le Ray de Chaumont, the
son of Franklin's friend at the French Court,
was established to the northward in Lewis
County. He was a brother-in-law of M.
Chassanis, who purchased of William Con-
stable in Paris, 1792, 630,000 acres of land

' See "The Mystery of the Muller Mansion," R. J. Hubbard,
Transactions Oneida Historical Society, Utica, 1892-4.

136 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

near the Black River in the northern part of
New York, for an association later organised
as La Co77ipagnie de Netu York, and known as
" Castorland." ^

There had been other leaders of the Castor-
land Colony near-by, among whom were des
Jardins, a former chamberlain of Louis XVI.,
and Marc Isambart Brunei, also a French po-
litical exile, later the engineer of the Thames
Tunnel, while de Wattines still lingered,*^ much
derogated, within sight of his island. At
Whitesboro lived Jonas Piatt, and Peter Smith,
later of Peterboro, also a friend of van der
Kemp, who said he was " a man of talents,
great worth, and strong mind." In the village

' Le Ray later became the principal agent of the French proprietors,
and bought many of their rights. He spent the best years of his life
in promoting the settlement of his lands in Jefferson and Lewis
counties. He became insolvent, and the management of affairs
passed to his son, Vincent Le Ray. He went back to France in 1832,
and visited America for the last time in 1836. He died December
31, 1840, cBt. 80. See Hough's History of Lewis County, pp. 35 et
seq., pp. 69, 70.

^ On a farm given him by Mr. Scriba " at the intercession of my
friend Mappa. Gerrit Boon, at my urgent entreaties, paid a hand-
some sum for the remnants of his library, which afterwards Chastellux
[Liancourt] published that I had, taking advantage of his distress,
appropriated to myself." — MS. letter to Clinton, Columbia University
Library.

ONEIDA LAKE. I 37

of Utica were Steuben's old Aid, Colonel
Walker, and the well-known members of the
famous Oneida County bar, and later Henry
Seymour. At Cazenovia, Colonel John Linck-
laen was not only a compatriot but a "beloved
friend," like members of other families con-
nected with the Holland Land Company. But
more nearly bound to the van der Kemp
household than perhaps any others were Col-
onel Mappa, his wife, and children ; who were
living at the distance of a day's journey at
Olden Barneveld, (later Trenton, now Barne-
veld), in Oneida County.

Yet at the best the loneliness was great.
Brave though Mrs. van der Kemp was, her
health failed, and this added trial finally made
life at Kempwyk impossible.

There once more [van der Kemp writes in the
autobiography] duty compelled me to make my
greatest sacrifice of all my prospects — of which I
sometimes yet feel the sting — to the peace and
comfort of your excellent mother, and conducted
her, who had given up country and ease, and relat-
ives and friends, to follow her consort to the West-
ern hemisphere, to Oldenbarneveld, to enjoy there

138 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

the society of our few friends, Gerrit Boon/ and
Mr. and Mrs. Mappa, and there, I expect the end of
our course.

When Mrs. van der Kemp in 1794 had first
visited Olden Barneveld, the Castorland jour-
nalist says that the settlement had " a large
clearing, a forge, saw mill, a fine two story
frame house with all the conveniences of a city
home, fine vegetable gardens, log houses, etc.,
all a great credit to Mr. Boon's industry" and
that " Mrs. Mappa received me de son mieux;

' Gerrit Boon of Rotterdam, came to America in 1790 with John
Lincklaen, both under the direction of the Holland Land Company.
He became Agent for its lands in Oneida County and arrived upon
this purchase in 1793, the first settler. He named his village Olden
Barneveld, lived there for some years, and was succeeded in his
Agency by Colonel Adam Gerard Mappa. He returned to Rotter-
dam, where his '' comptoir was under the forma of Van der Pot and
Boon, one of the oldest and most reputable families of the city."
Among the letters of introduction for Holland given by Mr. van der
Kemp to Mr. A. H. Everett, of Boston, in 1815, was one to "my
friend Boon at Rotterdam, who is delighted to receive an American
under his roof. Though no literary man he is an enlightened mer-
chant, he was here a number of years, and this our settlement and
neighborhood has risen and been fostered by his care. He has a
cultivated mind and a heart to endear him to all around."

In 1833 he was left alone by the loss of his wife, who had no
children ; he was then in feeble health ; the date of his death is
unknown.

The life-size portrait of Mr. Boon, in crayon on pink paper, by St.
Memin, is in the possession of the Oneida Historical Society at Utica.

ONEIDA LAKE. I 39

Speaking French, as did all her family ; her
husband, the ci-devant Dutch general of the
Revolution, was exiled like all other leaders of
the Republican party." Here van der Kemp,
in I 797, once again and for the last time es-
tablished his home. It was in a cottage which
still stands, not far from the old Unitarian
church. Here in his bed-chamber he placed
the sword and pistols carried through the
Dutch Revolution, and " the sword of the
Baron de Haersolte," laid aside his books for
moments of summer recreation and months of
winter leisure, and again essayed his agricul-
ture. Many of the families of their acquaint-
ance in the neighbourhood, rough country
though it was, lived in well-appointed houses,
with not only every comfort, but much of the
luxury of the time ; the exiles, now by repeated
losses in narrow circumstances, redeemed their
daily round and common task by s avoir fair e
and savoir vivre, and were happy in the society
of the friends whom they had come to join.

VI.
ADAM GERARD MAPPA.

THE name of Adam G. Mappa, a native
of Delft, often appears in the Holland
Land Company's deeds of property in Oneida
County, and the house in the village of Tren-
ton— now Barneveld — New York, built for
him in 1810 as its agent, is still standing, a
study of the Georgian period of architecture in
this country.^

This quiet home saw the closing years of a
life of vicissitude, among the few records of
which the happiest are perhaps the earliest, a
half-dozen letters tied in an old blue silk case,
written in 1 786-1 787 to the woman who later
became his wife, while both were still living in
Holland. Even then they had their troubles,

'See The Georgian Period, Part V., American Architect & Build
ing News Co., 1900.

140

ADAM GERARD MAP PA. 141

ces beaicx jours oil Us ^taieiit si iiialheurcux,
for though Anna Adriana Paspoort was twenty-
seven, she lived in the Old World, and there
in the eighteenth century a father's disapproval
was a complete ban to a lover's pretensions.

"A native of Holland, Mappa had at an
early age entered the Dutch service, and gained
marked distinction as a brave and enterprising
officer during the brief opportunity afforded
him before he retired." His letters are more
full of expressions of affection than of the de-
tails of his life and affairs such as we would
like to know while he is marching with his
regiment from post to post in the Netherlands,
though once he tells us how, at one of the
more agreeable posts, he goes "every week to
a private party, where people talk to ladies
young and old, play for money, take a cup
of chocolate and come home at nine"; or he
visits Madame van Asten, " a delightful wo-
man of a certain age, wife of his friend, who
waited fourteen years in defiance of her
mother's opposition for the man she loved."

He has his professional difficulties, which he

142 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

recounts at leno-th ; he writes often of his re-
ligious feeHngs, which, to do him justice, his
later hfe— and so we may assume his earHer —
did not beHe. His thouo^hts are with the wo-
man he loves, and although it is hard for him
to leave, " being Adjutant," he hopes to see her
soon, "entering by the garden gate." He
longs to be with her again in the petit salon,
he ventures to send her a little present, he
thinks they may in time " vanquish " her father,
"by their prayers, their humility and constancy."

With such an arsenal at their command, one
cannot wonder that they prevailed. " On the
nth of February, 1780," the family Bible rec-
ord says, they were " married in the old church
by Dominie P. Rietveld." Doubtless this was
in Delft, where the Paspoorts lived.

The next few years were happy enough to
have no history. There is reason to suppose
that Mappa left the army about the time of
his marriage, and later perhaps engaged in the
business of type-founding. When the political
storms gathered, "his desires to substitute for
the oligarchial constitution of his country a

ADAM GERARD MAPPA. 143

representative government which would secure
to her the blessings of civil liberty, called out
the energies of his character and distinguished
him for his patriotism," Again he took up his
sword, and so, in the same box with the letters
and his commission, is an epaulet lined with
green cloth, the fringe of the finest silver bul-
lion, which suggests the next chapter in
Mappa's story. "By 1 786-1 787 he had be-
come one of the leaders of the Dutch Patriots,
the commander of the armed citizens in the
Province of Holland," and soon made his name
a terror to the invaders. Daendels wrote to
him at Delft the day after Wyk had fallen :
" Amice ! come and command us ! all the
Guelderland men will rejoice." ^

But by the autumn of 1787, "after keeping the
Hague for several succeeding days in a state
of alarm, with his small band of patriots alone,
he was overwhelmed with numbers," oblio^ed
to disband his men," and was banished with
fourteen others for ever from Delft.

' MS. note of Daendels. From copy in the editor's possession.
■•* Amsterdam, I7<S7. The auxiliary regiment of Mappa appeared
October gth, at four p.m. on the drilling-field, by the Utrecht Gate,

144 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

By the authority of his repubHcan friends,
he immediately repaired to the Court of Ver-
sailles as commissioner to solicit her counte-
nance and co-operation, already promised, for
the Patriot cause/ At first he received en-
couragement, but France was too much busied
in those momentous affairs which preceded the
Revolution to be depended upon.

Foiled in this attempt, his country in pos-
session of foreign invaders, although Louis
XVI. is said to have given him a commission,
he determined to embark with his family for
America. Upon this Mrs. Mappa is said to
have had the courage to go back, not without
personal risk, to their old home from which
her husband had been obliged to fiee at a

where it was summoned, and was there disarmed. The weapons
were brought to the city. The cannon also hauled from the battery
and brought to the magazines. The officials visited the houses to de-
mand of the auxiliaries their arms, powder, and lead, according to
the order of October 9, 1787. — See N. Nederl. Jaarb.

' My friend Mappa dined in Paris in 1787 at My. van den Yver's,
the lady recommended a Pike folded in a damask napkin, comme
parfaitement bien inortijie.

" Apropos of the meaning in Pope of ' old fish at table, but young
flesh, etc' (a Dutchman would call it old wine), I knew not that the
English preferred old fish above fresh, I knew the French did so —
^ jdine chair et vieux poisson.' " MS. letter to Adams.

ADAM GERARD MAPPA. 1 45

moment's notice, where she hurriedly arranged
their affairs, and collected such personal pro-
perty as she could, their ship mean while wait-
ing till this might be accomplished. With the
two years which they spent at the Chateau de
Watte with Mr. Blok,^ near St. Omer, where
hundreds of the Dutch Patriots took refuge,
this would account for the time between July,
1787, and December i, 1789, when Mappa
arrived at New York with his family.

His friend van der Kemp at once begs leave
of Mr. Adams, then Vice-President, to intro-
duce Mappa, " one of the eminent characters
among the Patriots for political knowledge,
undaunted bravery, sacrifices, and distinguished
personal merit," though already Mappa some
years before had met Mr. Adams at the Lyon
d' or in Amsterdam, and asked his advice as to
emicrratino- to America.

o o

' Bernardus Blok. Born at Macassar, 1755. After the failure of the
Patriot movement, thinking himself not sufficiently secure in Brus-
sels, he fixed his abode at the Chateau de Watte, below Cassel in
France. In 1806 he was appointed Fiscal in Cura9oa ; in 1809 sec-
retary of Daendels in Java ; in 1812 he returned to the Netherlands,
and after the country regained independence he was named Member
of the Court of First instance at Alkmaar. Died in office 29 July,
1818. Beschrijving . . . Vervolg.^ vol. ii., p. 268.

146 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

Again they met, when Mr. Adams invited
him to his house, doubtless " Richmond Hill,"
near Greenwich, on Manhattan Island. Mappa,
upon the advice of Jefferson, then United
States Ambassador in Paris, where he had also
met Franklin, had brought with him to America
a complete " Letter Foundery," not alone for
" the Western, but the Oriental languages at
the value of at least about ;^3500 New York
currency. For the moment," continues van
der Kemp, there is, " so far as I know, not a
single letter-foundery in America, and the
printers must purchase them in England or
Scotland," and he proposes that Congress shall
tax foreign letter-types and encourage Mappa
and a home industry.^

During the next few years, letters of Mrs.
Mappa to her husband's sister in Holland, and
advertisements in French and English in the
New York papers, give a slight outline of their
life.

New York, August, 1790.
We are well, through God's goodness and fairly
well pleased here, we have very good prospects of

' MS letter to Adams, January 7, 1790.

ADAM GERARD MAPPA. 1 47

success with the Letter-Gietery, we have a very good
and cheerful house very suitable for our business,
some good friends, and a contented and thankful
heart since we enjoy so many blessings from Heaven
above. I am sure my dear sister will rejoice with
us, and thank God for and with us. I have no news
that I can give you, since all here is strange to you,
and I really know nothing, but only that the Con-
gress of the States, which for five years was held
here, has departed to the city of Philadelphia, and
that some Kings or chiefs of the Creek Nation have
spent some time here to conclude a treaty of peace
and friendship with the United States. They are
all savages, terrible to see, their natural colour black
or inclining to be nearly black, they paint their
faces with all sorts of colours, wear rings in their
noses, and some have the border of the ear pierced
and adorned with little tin plates. Moreover they
deck themselves with feathers of all sorts and colours,
and wear no breeches, so their backs are bare, and
no agreeable sight.

January, 1791.

By God's providence we are all well, and all our
affairs would go well had we better work people, and
a better work-place, but we are obliged to move in
May, and, if possible to find a good situation for our
affairs outside the city, we shall go, for the pleasure
of country life.

From New York, September 20, 1791, she
writes of her sad summer, and the death of

148 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

her youngest child when eight weeks old.
Mappa was working " early and late, with
scarcely time to eat and drink," and must do
much with " his unaccustomed hands " ; they
hope in time to overcome all difficulties, but
if not, and if they must always drudge, still
they will be patient, and happier with their
good name and good conscience than if they
had abandoned honour and duty.

Discouraged though they seemed to be, in
1792 Mappa's name still stands in the New
York Directory as a type-founder, at 22 Green-
wich Street. But on February i, 1794, he
advertises his type manufactory for sale, and
purchasers are directed to " apply at Passaick
and Second River three miles north from New
Ark, the mansion house of Col. Cortlandt
where subscriber now lives," and by the fol-
lowing summer, as we have already seen, he
had established himself and his family in
Boon's Settlement, later Olden Barneveld, now
Trenton.

Baron Steuben was already on his Patent
near them.

A DA A/ GERARD MAP PA. 1 49

The sixteen thousand acres of land which New
York had given him lay in Oneida County about
twelve miles north of Old Fort Schuyler, the Utica
of our day, and formed part of the township which
still bears his name. It was a rough, stony tract,
fitter for grazing than planting, with a high ridge
running across it, from which, as his eye became
familiar with the landscape, he could distinguish the
highlands of seven different counties, and, gleaming
over the tree tops on the farthest verge of the
horizon, the bright waters of Oneida Lake. This
was to be his home during the active months of the
year. . . . Sixty acres were set apart, and cleared
for the manor-house, which was to be a building
suited to his rank and habits of life. Meanwhile he
contented himself with a log-house, enlarged after a
short time by the addition of a frame-house of two
rooms. Here Mulligan ... as secretary was his
constant inmate ; North ' or Walker or some other
old companion would often come to stay a week or
more. . . . He studied farming as he had studied
the art of war. . . . And never, perhaps, even as
he rode his war-horse down the line . . . did he
feel a truer pleasure than when he guided Molly, his
quiet little mare, through the stumpy and half worn
paths of Steuben. In the evening chess or a book

' William North, born in Maine, 1775. Served as officer through
the War of Independence. Member of the New York Society of the
Cincinnati, United States Senator from that State, Erie Canal
Commissioner, Adjutant-General of the United States Army. Mar-
ried Maria, daughter of Hon. James Duane. Died, New York City,
Januaiy 3, 1836. He was Aid to Baron Steuben, as was Walker.

150 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

filled up the time pleasantly. . . . And thus the
last four years of his life glided smoothly away, with
little in them to recall Frederick's camp, or the
drawing-rooms at Hechingen,' but with something
of a grateful variety, and much to awaken a placid
interest. . . . During the day he rode through the
fields, watched the improvements and gave direc-
tions. In the evening he saw his friends and
neighbours.'

And when the chess-board and the books
were laid by for the Gazette de Leyde and the
last news of the French Revolution, one would
have been elad to hear the discussions be-
tween the old Aid of Frederick the Great, who
never could believe in the Prussian reverses,
and his neighbour Mappa, who was also turn-
ing his sword into a pruning-hook, and who
was ever one of his favourite guests. Indeed
their new interests as well as their old ones
were much the same, as was their society.

When, in his turn. Baron Steuben announced
a visit at Olden Barneveld,
our Hollanders met him as he appeared at the

' " He had been Grand Marshal at the Court of the Prince of
Hohenzollern-Hechingen for ten years." — Greene's Gert?ian Element
in the War of Independence, p. 23.

^ Greene's German Element in the IVar of Independence, pp. 77
et seq.

ADAM GERARD MAPPA. 151

edge of the forest, and escorted him in line to the
house, where he was received at the front door by
the ladies with all the courtesy and consideration
which would have been shown him in the Old
World;

The sudden death of this " most o-enerous
and affectionate" man, on November 28, 1794,
left a sad gap in their little circle.

The next year Mrs. Mappa wrote again to
her husband's sister, in anticipation of the lat-
ter's journey to America :

Olden Barneveld, i July, 1795.
We are all well and shall be heartily glad when
we may embrace you all here in health. You must
help my sister'^ as much as possible on the journey;
you remember her fragile condition and have seen
many proofs of her friendship for you. We are now
at the house ' of our friend Boon, and do not yet know
when we shall begin to build our own ; it is very
likely that at your arrival we shall receive you in his
house ; while he has so much friendship for us he
will not deny us that, but there is always a great dif-
ference if one is in one's own house ; let then the joy
of meeting us not make you forget this ; for the

' Centennial Address, Seymour, p. 17.

"^ Burga Jacoba Paspoort, wife of G. H. C. Zahn, both of whom
came from Holland to Olden Barneveld with Miss M. A. Mappa
(" Xante Maritje ").

'Moved across the road and now the Do uglass house. See Cent-
ennial Address^ Seymour, p. 11.

152 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

friendship of this gentleman is of too much impor-
tance to us not to take all possible care to keep it.
Above all, I hope that you will consult my sister,
and take care that you do not lack for clothing and
if you have it not, that you make something suitable
for travelling by land to me ; for although we are in
the woods, we are yet constantly with the fashion-
able people of the country, and without being
proud, it is always well to maintain one's position,
and so, dear Mietje, I beg with all friendliness that
you consult in all things my sister, who can advise
you in the best way.

All the news from here I have written in my sis-
ter's letter, and I doubt not her readiness to impart
it to you. My time is so occupied that I hope you
will allow me to close with the hearty wish that we
may embrace each other in health, and pass our
remaining days in peace and unity.

VII.
OLDEN BARNEVELD.

THE village of Olden Barneveld — later
Trenton, now Barneveld — lies in a small
valley at the confluence of the Steuben and
Cincinnati Creeks.

The drives through the surrounding hills,
often along little amber streams that run over
beds and ledges of the Trenton limestone, are
delightful, and the freshness of the great
North Woods fills the air. The summer clim-
ate is fine and the autumn is beautiful ; the
winters — as winters — are maofnificent, thougfh
when the tardy spring arrived, long after the
vernal equinox, it must have been an inde-
scribable delight to see, through doors and win-
dows standing open once more, the dark surface
of the gardens and meadows rising from the
"oceans of snow," like Mt. Ararat from the

153

154 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

wastes of waters, lightened in places by the
returning gold of the willows, and the blush of
the red maple and the " killikinnick."

Happy the man whose tender care
A few paternal acres bound

writes Mrs. Livingston to Mr. van der Kemp
in July, 1797.

It gave me great pleasure to hear that my
cousin had again a good and pleasant home, and
that your affairs are in a happy train to reward your
diligence and perseverance ; how happy that you are
far from your native country and Europe, where
Bellona hath let loose the dogs of war!

All in Barneveld to-day is but little changed,
and on its shaded streets yet stand the Mappa
house, the church, and a little dwelling close to
a small tributary of the West Canada Creek,
which washes in its pebbly course the edge of
the meadow that slopes from the door to the
sunny garden. This now became the home
of van der Kemp. Here, occupied with his
planting and tilling, with his library, — every
book of which he could identify in the dark, —
his wide correspondence, the visits of foreign

OLDEN BARNEVELD. I 55

friends and Americans warmly attached to the
household, receiving as he wrote to Vreede
" in this humble cottage sometimes the greatest
of the land," he passed his last thirty years in
a deep retirement which threw into extra-
ordinary relief the stormy period of his earlier
life.

Little remains to indicate the course of those
last years. The letters that came and went,
"those fallen leaves that keep their green,"
are the sole source of information, and it is
only in sentences scattered through them here
and there that the thread of his life may
henceforth be traced.

The summers were devoted to his gardens,
the inclement seasons, which set in early and
lasted late, to his studies. In the winter of
1 801, he wrote a paper upon the theories of
Buffon and Jefferson, in 1802 another on
the Achaean Republic, in 1803 still another
upon the "Use of Copper among the Greeks,"
besides collecting "all possible information"
on the north-western coast of America, and
through European letters investigating the

156 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

Arabian incursions from the seventh to the
eleventh century into the north-eastern parts
of Asia. To them he added his own favourite
study, the Canon Law, a correspondence with
a German mineralogist, and the preparation of
lectures for the use of his children.

In 1813 he published " The Outlines of the
Moral and Physical Causes of the Revol-
utionary Spirit in the Latter Part of the
Eighteenth Century,"^ and in March, 181 1,
he finished the literary sketches of Calvin
and Servetus.^

He is a great man, a star of the first magnitude
under a deep cloud. . . . You may well suppose
that such a man has not always been able to under-
stand our American politics. Nor have I. Had he
been as great a master of our language as he was of
his own, he would at this day have been one of the
most conspicuous characters in the United States.'

There was little for van der Kemp's pen
to describe outside of the kingdom which was
his mind. While his days may almost be said

' In General Repository, Boston.

2 MSB. now in the library of Harvard University.

^ To Jefferson, Adams. Life and Letters, vol. x., pp. 22, 224.

OLDEN BARNEVELD. 157

to have a tincture of the quaHty of Evelyn's,
with his devout spirit, his love of gardening
and of letter-writing, " tempting and provok-
ing his friends with Latin and Greek," his
interest in all questions of public concern, yet
all real activity in affairs was denied him. In
his solitary life much of his thought is of
Holland ; he seems to hear a^ain the old music
of his youth though on muted strings, and
wonders if his friends think of him in the
Western woods of America. Happily, yes.
Cau in 1806 sent him sixty volumes of classics,
and he thanks de Gyzelaer for his present of
Virgil, Sallust, and Horace, " save Montaigne
sent from France, the first stereotype " he has
seen. He placed these guests — " used to a
warmer climate — next the hearth to spare them
the cold ; since their host has laid off his fur
they too must learn to make shift." Many
classics had also come from Luzac.

Those ancients are delightful companions. Ovid
took a seat in my easy chair and made latterly
a place for Seneca, who pleases me better than for
thirty years. ... I have read Manilius, then
Phaedrus; the Nouvelle Hcloise after twenty years

158 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

with new pleasure; then the Lady of the Lake three
times without interruption. They belong to the
course of physic which gave back the tone I thought
to have lost for ever.

So he writes to one friend or another in that
portion of his correspondence which was with
Governor Clinton, Mr. Adams, and Colonel
Lincklaen. Most of the replies to these have
been preserved, but it is not within the province
of this sketch to offer these pages of discussion
— interesting though they are — on ancient and
modern literature, religions, and history, save
as the latter touch upon the writer's times.

But it seems best to give here, in chrono-
logical order, the events mentioned in these
letters in as nearly his own words as possible.
They help to portray those last thirty years
of his life, of which the autobiography says so
little, and of which the Dutch students of the
Patriotten-tyd, much as they write about him.

are so ignorant.

Olden Barneveld (1807).

Spent this winter very agreeably with my old
classic friends partly, to whom I have given a hearty
welcome. The prospect of a supply of modern Lit-

OLDEN BARNEVELD. I 59

erature gives a new value to their visit. A part of
my time to Crescimbini's Istoria della volg. Poes : a
part in examining and noting Venema's £cc. Hist.
on the Old and New Testaments, seven volumes in
4to, the best I ever read on that subject in any lan-
guage, only to the i6th Century. I knew that amiable
old man in full vigour of body and mind, benevolent,
pious, learned, tolerant, protector of learning, friend
of youth yet a Calvinist clergyman.

(1808)
For a year my Dutch correspondence is lost, and
a French friend warns me in closing his correspond-
ence for the present, that every letter is opened,
even those marked for Holland, and often kept back
though insignificant. Except Mr. Mappa's and my
own family I am here vox silentis ifi descrto. I de-
voted much time to Metaphysics, and turn in this
desert to gather a few flowers in the Canon Law,
once my favourite study. When tired I visited
Chaulieu and La Fare, and when they could not
remove a growing dulness, Rabelais and Sterne
made me laugh it away. I never lack a charming
society ; nevertheless I must sip my glass alone, no
longer filled with vin des coteaiix.

His old friend Lindsey in London forgets
him not in the matter of books, while from
Philadelphia Paul Busti often supplies him
with Italian literature,

the Morgante of Pulci, and Ricciardetto of Palavicino,

l6o FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

and Machiavelli's Works. Now shall I read Man-
dragon, for which I have longed thirty years. I
have been cheered by an affectionate letter from
Cornelis de Gyzelaer, Luzac's executor and guardian
of his children. My manual labor when I ought to
wander vaosX. fra le purpurea rose c i bianchi gigli in
my garden, is too long and continuous. My literary
amusements degenerated too often in fatiguing ap-
plications, and corroding cares, though well I know
that earth-born cares are wrong.

(1813)

I long for a letter! We know if we give a finger to
a child it grasps too often the hand, and so with
a friend accustomed to receive without power to
reciprocate.

As we cannot converse together I indulge myself
in writing. I only regret that I cannot always give
it that seasoning which should render it palatable to
your taste — not accustomed to a coarse fare — but
your kindness will sprinkle some salt on it, and take
my good-will in account and so it may do.

You will not blame me if I make use of Sunday
afternoon (the morning was employed in family
worship) in writing to an honoured friend. This too
is religious, to remember the favours which we re-
ceived and show our gratitude in our good-will,
though more is not in our power.

Shall I receive the Syllabus from the Philosopher
of Monticello or must you [Adams] ask his leave ?

I am delighted with the invitation to Quincy, but
have you remembered that I am blunt, and that in

OLDEN BARNEVELD. l6l

the woods this roughness cannot have received great
poHsh ?

I2th March, 1813.

My sending the Wj'cath unaccompanied by a single
line was occasioned by a short excursion to Sackett's
Harbour to take a view of the boasted powerful de-
fence of our frontiers, after the surprise of Ogdens-
burg, courted so long by the iterated incursions on
the defenceless and peaceable Canadians. It was
indeed a severe retaliation from which the inhabitants
shall not recover in many years, although all the
robbed private property is restored or compensated,
of which has actually been made a beginning. The
loss of public property in cannon, ammunition, stores,
is considerable and severely felt.

I arrived Tuesday, a week past, at the Harbour,
where I found a great deal of confusion and the im-
mediate expectation of an attack by a superior force
without adequate means of resistance, although a
superfluity of blustering vaunting to beat the British
if only 3000 British should dare to undertake it !
The place, however, had more the appearance of a
crowded, noisy, European fair than that of a well
regulated fortified camp. Every one went in and out
at pleasure, friend and foe. Boy \sic\ seemed master
to appearance, and a gloom was spread over the more
prudent by their critical situation and prevailing
Sickness. There were the Baltimore sons of Erin
with the greens of New York and the valiant Col.
McClure, who would fight the Devil, all these I doubt
not would fight well if well led. There was CoL

1 62 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

Macomb with his regulars and a few Troopers, with
the Parthians, Elamites and those of Mesapotamia
of our raw militia. I inspected too the navy, tho'
in infancy, in an excellent condition, full of ac-
tivity, and obeying orders at a wink, the crew
under the gallant Leonard and Woolsey, the saylors
who would have been chosen by any Naval Com-
mander for an arduous enterprise, the marines in the
best discipline under their brave and modest Captain
Smith. If the Harbour could be saved, it would be
through this navy. But I have not a shadow of ap-
prehension that an attack was intended. The only
view, I presume shall appear, was to fix our attention
upon that spot, to lure tJiere all our possible forces,
while day after day their troops in rapid succession
are marching to the Western parts towards Harrison.
From there I fear the sad tidings may be expected.
This short excursion was beneficial to my health,
having been during the whole winter in my study.
I was much in want of some relaxation. At my re-
turn I heard the mournful tidings of Mr. Livingston's
death. I lament the loss of this valuable friend, one
of the first with whom I associated in this country.
He was a worthy man, to me an affectionate friend.
The loss to this State in respect to arts and sciences
is irreparable. At least, I know not one to succeed

him.'

Boston, 27 Aug. 1813.

Your letter afforded me an inexpressible pleasure
— I was just returned from Cambridge. Judges,

' MS. letter to Adams.

OLDEN BARNEVELD. 1 63

Lawyers, Ministers, Doctors come and see me as
if I was indeed something, and know not that
my good-will is my principal merit, while it is to
the partiality of my friends that I am indebted for
the rest. . . .

Saturday and Friday night Dr. Thatcher, Chan-
ning, Holley visited me. Mr. Eliot took a walk with
me to show me a part of the city — I must tell you
in one word the city and the country and the inhab-
itants exceed far the most glowing and partial ex-
pectation — it is impossible to form of it an adequate
concept. I must say come and see. Mr. Holley
introduced me in the Athenaeum and shewed the
Library of John Quincy Adams of several thousand
volumes. Sunday I heard Mr. Holley. After church
Dr. Freeman and Mr. Carey visited me. Monday
Mr. Eliot carried me with his carriage to Quincy — it
was there a house of mourning indeed — I was re-
ceived with affectionate tenderness as a beloved
Brother could be — I was there at home again. Mr.
Eliot returned. There again Adams brought me in
the afternoon with his coach to a neighbouring
Doctor and shewed me the environs. He in person
next morning conducting me to Mr. Eliot's. — On this
journey he stopt at Mr. Quincy's. This family is as
amiable as respectable. I give my word to see them
once more and hope next week to bid them farewell.
Tuesday afternoon new visitants and invitation to
see the pourtrait of Buckminster at Sam. Dexter's.
Wednesday Mr. Tyng, Brother in law of Mrs. Eliot,
brought me in his carriage to Cambridge where I

164 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

was introduced again to numbers, saw a large and
exquisite Library, was placed in the procession with
distinction, in the church occupied no less honourable
place, heard all the performances, dined at the col-
lege and drank tea by the President Kirkland who
introduced me to the Governor, Lieutenant Gover-
nor, and a host of Doctors. I was present again at
the solemnities in the morning, and dined at the
President's, where among the guests was Judge
Smith, late Governor of New Hampshire, several
Judges, and a brother of Abbot of Coventry. After
dinner he too came in to see me. Towards even-
ing old Mr. Eliot came with his carriage to bring me
to Boston. Norton had been my guide and com-
panion. Messrs. Savage, Abbot of Boston, Dr.
Prince of Salem, another of Exeter, Messrs. Everett,
Prof. Peck and Ware ; (by the latter I breakfasted),
were among the principal of my new acquaintances.
Charles was yesterday, as a mark of particular esteem,
unanimously chosen at Cambridge a member of the
P. b. k. Society an honour seldom or never bestowed
out of the college. To-day I must dine with Mr.
Eliot's son in law — I had an urgent invitation of
Dr. Morse.

My love to both families. Strew roses, my dear
Bartha, to cover the thorny path of your Mother.
I remain,

Your best friend,

F. A. V. d. K.'

^ To his daughter.

OLDEN BARNEVELD. 165

' Boston, Monday Morning,

Sept. — 1813.

I give myself the pleasure of answering your
affectionate lines this morning while all my friends,
I hope, are comforted by sleep.

To-morrow I leave Boston — Friday morning I
left Mr. and Mrs. Adams. Col. Smith brought me
home. My worthy friend was much affected at my
departure, as it is presumptive that we shall see one
another no more. He failed not once to remember
Mappa and your Mother at Olden Barneveld, and re-
gretted more than once that you or she had not ac-
companied me.

Mrs. Eliot rejoiced at my return, it was a day
later. My new friends renewed their visits, Chief
Justice Parsons, Messrs. Lowell and Norton. In the
afternoon Mr. Eliot ordered his coach to have me
brought again to Cambridge with his brother Tyng
to see Prof. Peck's cab [inet] of Nat. hist, and Hor-
tus Botanicus. In the evening I saw Charles. Sat-
urday I dined with Mr. Eliot at his son in law's,
Sunday morning I went with Mr. and Mrs. Eliot
and daughters to Lowell's church and partook of the
Lord's Supper, while I heard in the afternoon Presi-
dent Kirkland, who visited me during the inter-
mission.

There is no longer any hope of Charles Eliot's
recovery. I shall see Charles' sister at Springfield
and stay there one day, after this visit I must stay
one day with your friend Sophia Childs,''

' To his daughter. - Daughter of Timothy Childs, M.D.

l66 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

Olden Barneveld, 21 Sept., 1813,

... At Pittsfield I was introduced by Dr. Childs'
family to Mr. Watson and Mr, Allen, who showed
me many civilities, the latter is the son-in-law of an
old acquaintance, Dr. Wheelock. Mr. Dwight, son-
in-law of my friend Eliot gave me a letter to young
Sedgwick who showed me a great deal of politeness,
giving me his carriage to Pittsfield. One of his
sisters is a Mrs. Watson of New York, with whose
conversation I was highly charmed.'

4 Oct., 1813.

... I am daily at Quincy seeing you leaving your
seat at the table and placing it next mine to honour
me with this distinction. I listen to Mrs. Adams as
often she pleases to amuse and instruct her society.
What a loss I did not ransack your library ! as many
weeks as I spent days would be too little, and it fell
short of your and Mrs. Adams' conversation. Tell
her I ardently wish two young Ladies now my cor-
respondents could form themselves in her school,
and letter-writing would be celebrated as an exqui-
site ornament of a Lady.'

22 Sept., 1814.

. . . Here too is all confusion, orders and counter-
orders daily, numbers of waggons passing and return-
ing with their load, countermanded by expresses.
Monday the largest part of our Regiment was drafted,
amongst them my son. It pained greatly his
mother and sister, I approved. His sister made

' To Adams.

OLDEN BARNEVELD. 167

his knapsack, and got his things together. Tuesday
evening they were embodied and ordered to march
Wednesday. At night counter-orders arrived. Wed-
nesday morning they were discharged. Yester-
day passed this neighbourhood four thousand men
with General Izard from Plattsburg for the harbour.
They pay here now $2.00 for wheat, Zd for beef, 2/
for butter, and in proportion for every article. Could
England be worse ?

I see my son in his native State doomed to con-
scription, and the constitution violated by its

guardians.'

Oct. 5th, 1814.

. . . He did his duty, and marches to-morrow to
the Harbour. The British fleet is in sight, ours is
brave and well commanded. God grant our militia
may be firm, they are badly armed.'

Dec. 19, 1814.
Le plus grand hicn que soit en amitic est s'entre-
scrire on se dire de bouche, soit bien, soit dueil, tout cc
qui au coeur touche, says Marot. I am again in the
Ancient History of Greece, . . . I dim Wke T envoy
of the ballad

Four /aire plus lost mal que bicn
Frere Lubin le /era bien,
Mais si c'est quelque bon affaire
Frere Lubin ne le peult /aire.
I have received a very polite letter from the Dutch
minister M. Changuion, with interesting state docu-
ments ; he offered me his services, he has sent my

' To Adams.

1 68 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

oration to his Government and requested a copy of
the Symposimn.

I have always disliked learned women, no matter
what their class or distinction, I was always dull
and uneasy in their presence : a well instructed mind
adorned with graceful manners showing with a bril-
liant luster through her usual domestic employ-
ments, is of infinitely more value, even Madame de
Stael clouded with darkness. ^

It is doubtless the possibility of the coming
of Corinne which is here alluded to.

For the benefit of his daughter, Necker had
arranged at Coppet with Le Ray de Chaumont
and Gouverneur Morris for lands in Penn-
sylvania, and 23,000 acres in St. Lawrence
County, New York, and Madame de Stael long
intended to visit the United States and estab-
lish one of her sons in the care of this prop-
erty,^ which she later augmented by purchases
through Le Ray, to whom she was related.

" I cannot imagine,"^she writes him, " a more
noble career than yours [in America] : had

' MS. letter to Adams.

* She held these lands until her death, and was kept informed of
their condition by a yearly letter from Judge Cooper of Coopers-
town, Otsego County. " I knew and respected him," wrote Adams,
" indeed one of the great Pioneers."

OLDEN BARNEVELD. 1 69

I not my European habits I should deHght to
become an inmate at Le Raysville.

" Life is everywhere much the same ; the
senses are of some account, the rest depends
on the cast of mind, the view we take of things,
the art of being occupied, and finally friend-
ship to banish ennui. . . . To set up a little
summer establishment in a new country which
is rapidly advancing, to spend there from three
to five months of the fine season, to remain
four months more at New York or Philadel-
phia and to spend the remainder of the year
in travelling," would^have been to her mind.

In view of her taking this step she had been
advised that she would find the most congenial
society at Olden Barneveld, not far from Le
Raysville, and it is perhaps this prospect which
is reflected in the letter. Needless to say she
never came.

' Olden Barneveld, November 9, 1815.

Musing on Moli&re, the last precious gift of de
Gyzelaer, which I received this summer, I was as
usual diverted from him to you, recollecting your
kindness. My own health is improved, my old

' To Adams.

I/O FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

enemy raps only now and then a lady's knock
at the door; though I am not always permitted to
say not at home, oViX pour par ler does not last long.
I shall go to-night to make a party of Quadrille with
my old friend Mappa, but tell it not in Gath. I
have laid aside all serious studies for a time, turning
to Shakespeare, and amused myself with Rcdi il
bacco in Toscana. I am delighted with Fortiguerra's
admirable Ricciardetto. Can you send me Ronsard's
Podsics and Condorcet? And can you explain the
spinning with a distaff ? I can't conceive how. It
is yet done in Siberia,'

In the famous "cold summer" of 1816, when
in July he is repairing the damages of frost in
his garden, he writes to Adams that

Jefferson has now sent his Syllabus to me and I
will publish it if possible [in London] : there will be
no hint of the author.

I send the Syllabus in my own handwriting with
a letter to all appearance written in England, and

' Every Country Girl in New England or New York can teach
better than Hercules to spin on a distaff, which is a long conical
Piece of round Wood, round which the well heckelled flax is bound
and drawn out in Thread by the Thumb and finger and twisted round
a spindle turned by a foot Wheel.

I should as soon think of sending to a sattellite of Jupiter for fire
to light a segar, as to Siberia to learn to spin.

I have written four times as much as I thought I could, but you
always strengthen

John Adams.

MS. letter to v. d. K., Penna. Hist. Soc.

OLDEN BARNEVELD. 171

have engaged my friends shall not permit them-
selves a surmise with regard to the author, of my
letter I requested correction/

I was every evening much fatigued. An unex-
pected visit of Mr. Varick from Utica, and Mr.
Childs of Cazenovia, and Mrs. Seymour recruited
my exhausted strength, and I was refreshed in the
morning. Your letters in my deep retirement are
really the balm of life, an old tried friend, an old
wine, are above price.

^Boston, Sept. 5, 1S20.

Yes, I thank my God in blessing me with such a
daughter — How gratifying was your affectionate let-
ter to me — not less so to Mrs. E. and C.

The attention of the Rev. Dwight gives me a sensi-
ble pleasure — every mark of regard of such a man is
to me a gratification which I am more eager to obtain
than anything else. Saturday at Professor Shat-
tuck's was a chosen company and an elegant dinner,
and in the evening our family meeting was increased

' The Syllabus was the " Estimate of the merit of Jesus compared
with others" which Jefferson composed in 1803 "on the road to
Monticello," and which he sent to Dr. Rush, to whom he had prom-
ised his views on the Christian religion, with a letter. Randall says
(vol. iii., p. 561) that " He never showed it to more than two or three
persons, two of whom were John Adams and Mr. Short."

The Buffalo Historical Society now owns the autograph copies sent
by him to van der Kemp of both letter and Syllabus. The latter is
endorsed by van der Kemp: " Publ. in England, Monthly Repos.
of Theol. and Gen. Literature, LXXX., vol. xi., Oct., 1816, Pag.
573-6."

This periodical was published in London, 1769-1788.

^ To his daughter.

172 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

with Mr. and Mrs. Dwight and Miss Astley of Phila-
delphia— Sunday morning I shared in the commun-
ion at Mr. Channing's dined at Mrs. Borlands heard
Dr. Gardiner the Episcopalian and had before sup-
per some music by Sam, Gate, Anna, and Mary.
To-day I must pay some visits, and dine to-morrow
at Mr. Dwight's. . . . Tell Sophia I begin to
calculate when to return, but think not that I can
leave this enchanted palace before the 14th or 15th.
About that time I may obtain leave. We expect
now every moment William from two years absence
over the Atlantic ! . . .

This instant I received an invitation to dine with
the members of the bar of Suffolk tomorrow, which I
must decline, but I shall assist in hearing the ad-
dress, after that with all speed to Mrs. Dwight's.
September 4th next Friday week my return home is
fixed, and my friend Tyng shall accompany me
so far as Stockbridge or Northampton. Thursday
morning at seven I travel with uncle Tyng to New-
buryport to pay visit to Mrs. Carson — we return on
Thursday by way of Salem and on Friday I go to
Ouincy to bid my last farew^ell to my friends. . . .

Farewell, my dearest Bartha, ere long I hope to
embrace you and your dearest Mother. Believe me
meanwhile.

Your best friend and

Affectionate

Father.'

' He received in 1820 from Harvard University the honorary degree
of LL.D.

OLDEN BARNEVELD. 1 73

Olden Barneveld, Sept. 25, 1820.

I cannot express my feelings for the affectionate
reception which I met with at Montezillo. You
treated me as a brother — as a friend — with cordiality
which was followed by each member of your family.
It is not in my power to reciprocate it, but I thank
my God sincerely for this undeserved blessing. I
shall a long time feast upon it. When I walk in
my garden and see your plum trees growing and your
lilies in full flower, my imagination will transport
me to Montezillo, and I shall listen if I do not hear
the voice of John Adams.'

10 June, 1821.

It is not presumptive that we shall arrive at the
acme of glory without some interruption, some con-
vulsions. The black populace in some parts, the
unprincipled education in others, the love of power
in others may cause these, but they cannot be last-
ing, they cannot crush the beautiful fabric, and then
in the last resort Dr. Sangrado's Scignare etc. shall
throw off the dregs, cpiirer the mass, and render
America the future object of admiration on the
globe. Do you suppose that we shall then obtain
some information of the transactions on this puny
planet ? or shall we be employed in higher topics
of contemplation ? Whatever may be of this, may I
be blessed by our Heavenly Father to enjoy a con-
tinued existence, however humble, not far from those
whom I have loved and revered.'

' To Adams.

174 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

Feb. 15, 1825.

This instant I received from my grandson at
Philadelphia the confirmation of the happy event of
John Quincy Adams' election as President of the
United States. Neither of us two can expect to
enjoy this blessing many days, but we have seen the
rising sun, our children and friends shall admire it
in its meridian glory.'

QuiNXY, 24th February 1825.
My dear & NEVER FAILING FRIEND

The events of this month have been to me almost
overwhelming. They have excited my sensibility
too much, for a man almost ninety years, to bear.
The multitude of letters of congratulations which I
have received I can never pretend to answer, for it
fatigues me to dictate even a few lines — but none
of those letters have been more cordially welcomed
than that of my friend Vanderkemp. I reciprocate
all your kind wishes for my health and happiness,
for yours and all your friends. . . .

Present my respects & veneration to your excel-
lent lady and thank her for her kind sentiments
towards me — but my breath fails me and I must
conclude with assurances of unabated esteem &
affection."

John Adams

Olden Barneveld, Sept. 1825.
Often when I labour in my garden, — and I do so
usually from sunrise till its setting — I expatiate with

' To Adams. - MS. letter, Fenna. Hist. Soc.

OLDEN BARNEVELD. 1/5

you and your son in your delightful mansion. Soon
everything around you shall brighten, you shall re-
vive a while, when the president your son visits you.
Indeed your last days appear to me your best days.'

One more letter was sent before Mr. Adams's
death.

I try to make my letter legible but I can scarce
see enough to read or write, or even to distinguish a
path from a bed when I am labouring in my garden.
It cannot last long. Mrs. van der Kemp remains
feeble, it is not surprising. She approaches her
eightieth year. I have tried in vain for Flowren's
treatise on nervous system in vertebrates.

QuiNCY, 29, July 1826.

Judge F. A. VAN DER Kemp — Olden Barneveld —
New York.'

My dear Sir

Your very kind and friendly Letter of the loth.
inst. which I received only a few days since has
deeply affected me — Well do I know with what a
respectful and affectionate attachment, my father
cherished an acquaintance with you to the origin of
which I was myself a witness, and of which the lapse
of nearly half a century has not obliterated the
memory — I know too how long and how cordially
my dear and ever lamented Mother shared in those
Sentiments, and the voice of Condolence from their

1 To Adams. ^ MS. letter, Penna. Hist. Soc.

176 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

friend is soothing to the afflictions of a Son, to
whom the bereavement of a Parent's tenderness is
rendered the more sensible even by the unusual
length of years during which it was enjoyed. It is
indeed one of the concomitants inseperable from old
age, to witness the departure in succession of con-
temporary and even of juniors in life; but every
one of the surrounding friends withdrawn from the
Scene, weakens the ties by which we are bound to
earth — That many years of health and of comfort
may be yet in reserve for you, is the fervent wish
and prayer, Dear Sir,

of your friend and faithful Servt

John Quincy Adams.

When John Adams wrote that "at the haz-
ard of the little vision that is left I have read
your travels in the v^ilderness," he referred to
van der Kemp's Letters 07t a Tour through a
Part of the Western District of New York, in
i'/g2, which was at that time written in Dutch
to gratify a few friends. It was later copied in
English for his daughter without having the
idioms corrected, and in 1823 van der Kemp
sent to Governor De Witt Clinton "this baga-
telle, to answer in some form the ' Circular

OLDEN BARNEVELD. 1 77

Letter,' " of the Literary and Philosophical
Society of the State of New York, on the sub-
ject of a statistical account of that State.

On this journey he became strongly attracted
to Oneida Lake, long before he thought of
living there, and his description of it is an
idyl. Whether it was this charming narrative
of his visit to the French cmigrd and his wife,
then settled there on an island, or the account
given of them three years later by the Due de
Rochefoucauld-Liancourt that so touched the
heart and imagination of de Tocqueville^
seems an open question.

Much also was written about them in that
manuscript journal" of the ill-fated Castor
Land Company which sixty years later was
found on a Paris book-stall. Of the three,
van der Kemp's is by far the most poetic, and

' The " book " quoted by de Tocqueville under the name of Lake
Oneida is probably part of a larger work, as that title cannot be
found here or abroad. As van der Kemp often sent his writings
to friends in England and on the Continent, it is not impossible that
his third " Letter" in Seymour's Address is the Voyage referred to.
See de Tocqueville's Democracy in America, vol. i., p. 377, and
Memoir Letters and Remains, vol. i., p. 131.

''Anonymous. From July, 1793, to September 20, 1796. In
Collections of Massachusetts Historical Society.

178 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

is fairly matched by de Tocqueville's imaginat-
ive and exquisite description of his sentimental
pilgrimage with de Beaumont to the lake,
" still and silent in virgin forests," and the
island home of their countryman, forty years
after de Wattines had left it for ever.

But Clinton was chiefly impressed by an-
other passage. He says: "Your letter to
Colonel Mappa on the Canal written in 1792
is really a curiosity. It gives you the original
invention of the Erie route, and I shall lay it
by as a subject of momentous reference on
some future occasion."

Under the act of 1804 a translator had been
appointed for the Dutch manuscript records
of the West India Company belonging to the
State of New York. Little had been done,
however, and in 181 7 Governor Clinton of-
fered this " confidential and honorable office "
to van der Kemp, promising the defrayal of
his expenses, but nothing more. He so
doubted his own ability that he accepted the
task only upon a second offer, and provided

OLDEN BARNEVELD. 1 79

that the initial volume of his work submitted
for criticism to the Albany authorities should
be first approved. This followed, and he
deemed it a duty " to run the risk," though
he " dared not answer for the issue." So, on
the condition that the originals might be en-
trusted to him at Trenton — " since he could
be frugal at home but not so abroad," — he
took up the work with joy. Years before he
" had broken the ice to get from Holland all
authentic documents from 1614 to 1648," and
now again he wrote to his " cosyn J, C. van
der Kemp, a member of the States General in
Holland," for his intercession with the King
of the Netherlands to procure the missing
records of the West India Company, carried off
by Napoleon, and placed no one knew where.
" Mr. David Parish offered to bear part of the
expenses, my compensation, if wanted [neces-
sary], must make up the remainder," so much
did he long for the "inexpressible delight" of
" giving the State of New York what she might
not have had without him."
It was deeply interesting.

l80 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

With a few exceptions I would not desire a
more complete instruction would I establish a mer-
cantile colony. Nothing was to them a trifle,
nothing overlooked. Commerce was the soul, and
agriculture not neglected, in this settlement of
merchants rather than colonists, feeble in strength
if compared to New England, and yet so power-
ful on the Atlantic that while New England fed
them, they in their turn provided New England
and Virginia with wares and merchandise, and
often exported their products in armed vessels, sail-
ing with New English colours to England. They were
the possessors exclusively of the fur trade, of tobacco
chiefly and of salt. But their government was aristo-
cratic to excess, and bigotry tainted their religious
establishment. There was no printing press, and yet
so early as 1652 a minister was sent to preach at New
Amsterdam, and in 1660 a fund was created for a
Latin school at New Amsterdam, and a learned Lith-
uanian professor named Crolius was engaged to in-
struct the youth in that language.'

The masters at home showed their displeas-
ure at the persecution of the Lutherans, and
commanded that they should enjoy at least in
their houses the practice of their religion, while
the black spot of the slave trade was somewhat
effaced by their treaty stipulation with the Ind-

' MS. letter to Adams.

OLDEN BARNEVELD. l8l

ians for the education of the Indian children
at New Amsterdam. " All New Yorkers,"
sums up van der Kemp, "who dare to consult
the translated Dutch record must blush with
shame and confusion when they reflect how
ignorant this State is of what it owes to the
administration of a Stuyvesant, of which they,
unknowingly, yet harvest the benefits."

His difficulties in translating were Qfreat,
often " wading through mud and dirt," the paper
mouldered away, and his eyes dim with coming
cataract. There were forty volumes, and it
sometimes seemed as if his one earthly wish to
accomplish this task and to have it approved
might not be granted, the more as Governor
Clinton's successor miorht not care to continue
him in this post. However, after years of toil,
by the summer of 1822 the last volume was
safely transported with the originals to the
Secretary of State's office in Albany.

One of the closest friendships of van der
Kemp's later life was this with Clinton. " To
him," he said "this State owes not only the
canal, but the commencing growth of arts and

1 82 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

sciences and the Revival of that noble custom of
our Dutch forefathers here, of thankingf God
annually for his undeserved blessing and im-
ploring His mercy for our transgression. This
cannot become obsolete ao"ain." He agfrees
with him " that our country will be the chosen
seat and favourite abode of learning and sci-
ence," and he longs to have the government
"construct on the heights of New York a splen-
did observatory, superior to any in Europe."

They had first met years before, perhaps at
the house of his uncle, Gov. George Clinton,
although as " Hibernicus " he described in his
Letters his first visit to Olden Barneveld as
in 1820 :

Western Region, September, 1820.

In one of my solitary walks with my gun on my
shoulder, and my dog by my side, I strayed eight
or ten miles from my lodgings ; and as I was musing
on the beauties of the country, and meditating on
the various and picturesque scenes which were con-
stantly unfolding, I was roused from my reverie
by voices which proceeded from persons at a short
distance. In casting my eyes in that direction, I
saw two venerable men with fishing rods in their
hands angling for trout, in a copious and pellucid

OLDEN BARNEVELD. 1 83

Stream which rolled at their feet. I was hailed by
them, and requested to approach, which I imme-
diately did, and in exchanging salutations, I found
that they were men of the world, perfectly acquainted
with the courtesies of life. One of them held up a
string of fine trout and asked me in the most oblig-
ing manner to go home with them and partake of
the fruits of their amusement. Struck with the ap-
pearance of the strangers, and anxious to avail my-
self of the pleasure of their company, I did not
hesitate to accept of their hospitable offer, on con-
dition that they would permit me to add the wood-
chuck, snipe, and wood ducks, which were suspended
from my gun, to their acquisitions. This offer was
kindly accepted. A general and desultory conversa-
tion ensued, and we arrived in a short time at a
small village, and on ascending the steps of an ele-
gant house, I was congratulated by my new friends
on my entry into Oldenbarneveld. In the course of
an hour, dinner was served up, I sat down and en-
joyed a treat worthy to be compared to the Sympo-
sium of Plato. I soon found that these venerable
friends were emigrants from Holland — that they
were men of highly cultivated minds, and polished
manners— and that they had selected their habit-
ations in this place, where they enjoyed

An elegant sufficiency, content,
Retirement, rural quiet, friendship, books.
Ease and alternate labour, useful life.
Progressive virtue and approving Heaven.

1 84 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

The elder of these gentlemen had received the
best education which Holland could afford. He
was brought up a clergyman, and at the commence-
ment of the American Revolution, he became its
enthusiastic and energetic advocate, and wrote an
able work in vindication of its character and con-
duct. In the struggles which subsequently took
place in his native country, he sided with the Pa-
triots. His friend held a high military ofifice during
that commotion, and unites the frankness of a soldier
and the refinement of a gentlemen with the erudition
of a scholar.

During their residence in this country, they have
been attentive to its interests. As far back as 1795,
the elder gentleman proposed an Agricultural So-
ciety for this district, and addressed it in a luminous
speech.

I was penetrated with the most profound respect,
when I witnessed the various and extensive acquire-
ments of this man. He is a perfect master of all the
Greek and Roman authors — skilled in Hebrew, the
Syriac, and the other oriental languages — with
the German and French he is perfectly acquainted
— His mind is a great and inexhaustible store-house
of knowledge ; and I could perceive no deficiency,
except in his not being perfectly acquainted with
the modern discoveries in natural science, which
arises in a great degree from his sequestered life.
He manages an extensive correspondence with many
learned men in Europe, as well as America. And
although I had never heard of him before yet I am

OLDEN BARNEVELD. 1 85

happy to understand that his merits are justly ap-
preciated by some of the first men of this country.

He had lately been complimented with a degree
of Doctor of Laws, by a celebrated university of
New-England. He is now employed by the state
of New York in translating its Dutch Records — and
through the munificence of David Parish, the great
banker, he will be enabled to have transcripts of the
records of the Dutch West India Company to fill up
an important chasm in the history of this great state.

Thus, my friend, I have made a great discovery.
In a secluded, unassuming village, I have discovered
tJie most learned man in America, cultivating, like
our first parent, his beautiful and spacious garden
with his own hands — cultivating literature and
science — cultivating the virtues which adorn the
fireside and the altar — cultivating the esteem of the
wise and the good — and blessing with the radiations
of his illumined and highly gifted mind, all who
enjoy his conversation, and who are honoured by
his correspondence.

Olden Barneveld, April-May 1823.

Your letter mitigates somewhat the cold unpleas-
ing northerly blast, which requires the aid of a blaz-
ing fire to subdue its rigour. We had this morning
rain and snow and hail but it cannot diminish our
prospect of the invigorating, blooming spring. We
see already several flowers blossoming and the tulip
shall join the Hyacinth in a few days. Our vege-
tables are sprouting forward. How I would wish

1 86 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

you here tomorrow — my High festival — with your
lady. I would do myself the honour in offering her
a superior Salmon trout, now we are compelled to
eat it only with Mrs. Lincklaen and our friend
Mappa's family, and be satisfied to drink a glass
to the brim to the health of my Lord and my Lady
Hibernicus. This is your friend's 71 anniversary
[May 4] with that of the thirty fifth since his arrival
in this happy land.'

28 July '24.

About three weeks ago, when weeding Bertha's
flowers, I was delightfully surprised by Mrs. Josiah
Quincy. She came at the wish of her father and
husband, and must see all our cottage. When I
opened the door of our front room, oh ! she ex-
claimed, that is Clinton ! holding her eyes fixed on
your countenance.* Bertha's health remains vacillat-
ing, yet I hear her now spinning.'

But life at Olden Barneveld had also a less
serious side. Apart from the entertainment
to be derived from the books of Colonel Mappa,
numbering nearly nine hundred in English,
Dutch, French, and German, and "the rem-
nants" of van der Kemp's "once valuable
library," which comprised at his death nearly

' To Clinton. MS. letter, Columbia University Library.
^ The fine portrait of himself given by Clinton to Judge van der
Kemp. Now in possession of the Oneida Hist. Soc.

OLDEN BARNEVELD. I 87

fourteen hundred volumes/ the Dutch famiHes
added to their love of reading and of hospitality
that of keeping anniversaries and festivals.
They observed the Emancipation of Holland
in March, 1814, when van der Kemp's oration
was read at a meeting at Mappa's house, and,
no less loyal to their adopted country, they
joined in celebrating the Peace in 1815.

Though we possess neither bell nor cannon we
were not idle. I was invited with two Republicans
and a Federalist to arrange our rejoicings, we con-
vened, read the Treaty, wished one another joy, and
walked in procession, about two hundred persons,
and were cheered by a good band of music, all Har-
mony, every house was illuminated.

When there were no unusual events, chess,
and cards (at which the ladies were adepts),
whiled away many evenings, and there were
arrivals from the great world, like that of
Herr Boomhorst, a Hessian nobleman, form-
erly an officer in the Austrian service and

' Pursuant to the terms of his will, the library was sold on July
15, 1830. ... " The largest purchase was made for the library at
Cambridge at prices equally indicative of generous liberality and
strenuous competition. The sale sustained the literary reputation of
the city." — Boston Daily Evening Transcript, July 24, 1830.

1 88 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

under the Prince of Orange, and of Mr. Ber-
nardus Blok, the old friend and host of the
Chateau de Watte, who had been formerly
" one of the warmest and most influential
friends to the American cause." He came
for several weeks in the autumn of 1808 with
his daughter and secretary, on his way to fill a
judicial office in the East Indies, and "his tale
of European affairs was one of horror."

New neighbours came who immensely di-
verted them, like the "respectable, thin little
Frenchman," a " man of the world, once
clever, agreeable in company, knowing human
nature, a pJiilosophe of the first rank, though
like other philosophers unskilful in steering his
own affairs," as witness his marriage with an
" old lame widow," his buying a farm with-
out seeinor it, and — " O Weimir ! " concluded
Mappa, "going away without paying for it!"

American friends from far and near often
crossed the thresholds, and sometimes per-
suaded Mr. van der Kemp, the " old Dutch re-
cluse," as he called himself, to return their visits.

" Depend upon it," he wrote Judge Miller

OLDEN BARNEVELD. 1 89

in 1 8 16, "when I come to visit Varick it will
be hard for you to prevent my coming one
evening to drappier^ with you. You should
command Guert Knickerbocker to appear at
the general review." Such a review in 1812
had been described in his Symposium Uti-
cense, dedicated to Col. Benjamin de Wande-
laer (Walker) one of the guests, who with the
others, Breekop, Reinhart, Guert Knicker-
bocker, assembled for a supper party at the
house of an American friend, Francfort,^ whose
wife is a Dutch lady.

' Draper, railler fortement q'q'iin, " to jeer or banter."

- Probably Judge [Morris S.] Miller. Born on Long Island, 1780,
married Miss Maria Bleecker of Albany, lived at Utica, where he
died in 1824.

Abraham Varick was a lawyer and man of business who came to
Utica in 1804, and later was agent (after Colonel Mappa) of the Hol-
land Land Company lands north of Utica. He married Ann, widow
of George Washington Clinton, and daughter of William Floyd,
Signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was born in Hacken-
sack, N. J., in 1780, and died in New York, whither he had removed
in 1833, in 1840.

Guert Knickerbocker was probably Colonel Mappa.

Benjamin Walker, born in London, was a scholar of the Blue Coat
school. He lived in France, and came to New York in the service of
a mercantile house. In 1778, at Valley Forge, he became Aid to Baron
Steuben, who regarded him always as a son. In 1 781-1782 he joined
Washington's staff, and was Aid until the close of the war. He
betame secretary to the Governor of New York, then entered busi-
ness with General Benjamin Ledyard, was made naval officer of the

1 90 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

Paraphrasing this account — too long for
these pages, yet belonging to them— plenty had
spread the table, neatness, elegance, and order
betrayed the mistress's descent. The host said
grace, and next congratulated his friends with
the cup of welcome, a usage originating in Ger-
many, still preserved in Holland, the welbeko-
men van de Maaltyd, as Breekop says, of our
Dutch folks.

The wine, mild and generous, drowned our cares.
Francfort seized the moment and ordered up some
old Hoghheimer. It sparkled in the glass, it per-
fumed the room, the last precious drops were poured
out as a libation to the memory of that good old
Dutchman who enjoyed that which he possessed,
and left yet something behind for his grandchildren.
The talk went on, first politics with now and then a
broad shot at the poor Dutchmen, till grace was said
by Francfort. When all again were seated, " Our an-
cestors," he began, " were not afraid of a bumper,"
and filling his glass to the brim, said " follow me,
my lads, if ye love me —

Port of New York, and finally as agent of the Earl of Bath's great
estate, came to Utica, then old Fort Schuyler, where he spent the
rest of his life, caring also for the lands left him by Baron Steuben.
Benevolent and hospitable, he died much regretted in 1818.

Breekop was doubtless C. C. Brodhead, surveyor, and one of the
engineers of the Erie Canal. See Pioneers of Utica. — Bagg.

OLDEN BARNEVELD. 191

Een glasje iiaer de grade

Was de wet van den goeden Bonifacie."

With a solemn Wacht-heil the company drank the
health of his wife, then came among the other toasts
"the fatherland," "prosperity to the house," "our
well wishers," and "the five V's — Vryheid, Vreede,
Vriendschap, Vrotiwen, Vrolykheid'' — while among
other songs Francfort gave

Spant de wagen voor de paarden,
Ryd er mee na Hurley toe.

a well-known vaudeville recording the calm of the
retreating inhabitants before the British invaders.

After the company decamped, " Frank Noort
ten halven " (who is plainly van der Kemp him-
self) " smoked with Guert after the old Dutch
fashion our Mantel pypje^' ^ and " then came a
glasje of de val reep, — a stirrup cup, — and so
Adieu. ~

• Mantel pypje, a pipe smoked with one's cloak on, ready to start ;
een glasje op de val 7-eep is also used in the same sense, the val reep
being the rope hanging by a vessel's side to assist the sailors in going
up and down the ladder ; also used for the ladder itself. [Mr. A. J.
van Laer.]

- With all the fun, van der Kemp's real purpose in this paper is to
resent, hotly and logically, the too frequent ridicule of the Dutch by
Americans, whom he considered less just and generous towards his
country than the English. Even Randolph indulged in it on the
floor of Congress. Without stooping to reprisals in satirising the
weak points of his adopted countrymen, he takes his revenge in

192 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

There were other festivals. On December
19th he gave thanks for his release from prison.
The 4th of May, the anniversary of his birth,
and of his landing with his wife and children
in America, was ever honoured. " December
6th was a day of joy," always " Mappa and his
family were with us, all the world seemed in-
cluded in our little room," for it was Mrs. van
der Kemp's birthday.

In 1827 this birthday was celebrated for the
last time. On September 6, 1828, Mrs. van
der Kemp, in her eighty-first year, passed away.
Alas ! "He lost in her — to whom he was so
infinitely indebted — an undeserved blessing."

In the previous April- Colonel Mappa had
died. After long enjoying " peace, plenty, and
uninterrupted health," in his later life he had
been bowed down with financial troubles, then
so common to ventures in the land business,
and with sorrow for the loss of his wife, " that

showing their ingratitude to that great people whose outstretched
hand had strengthened the United States in her sorest need, and
made possible her freedom, and ends with a panegyric upon Adams as
he had known him both in Holland and America, and with a warning
that no country recovers its liberties twice under a Republican form
of government.

OLDEN BARNEVELD. 1 93

excellent woman, Mrs. van der Kemp's only-
friend in a foreign land." When, after the
custom of the time, his pastor preached his
funeral sermon,

We have lost [he said] a man of pure character, in
whose word all classes confided. His agency in the
settlement of these lands, his administration of equity
and forbearance, the trust which people in their land
concerns reposed in him, were a blessing to the
inhabitants. Steady as the sun in his Christian
course, a consistent Protestant and no pharisee, he
conceded to all the right of private judgment which
he claimed for himself. Never failing to respect
the " venerable and benign institution of the Sab-
bath, so blessed to the labourer and the poor," nor to
attend while in health the services of the little church
which he had aided to establish, he also set an ex-
ample of moderation and submission to the judgment
of others. At last called home in a good old age,
his end was peace and assurance.

" So they fall to the right and left ! God
forbid that I should be doomed to remain
alone in a desert," exclaimed van der Kemp
when Mrs. Mappa died in 1814. Now though
he was left the last of his generation, his dear-
est friends gone before him, his prayer was

194 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

soon to be granted, for only a year and a day
of life remained to him.

" I would not care to run again the same
course," he said, " but I have not considered
this world a vale of tears." Yet his career
seems a sad one. He asked little of Fortune,
but even the modest hope of gaining by his
agriculture a competence to bequeath to his
children,' of adding to his small income by
literary and scientific treatises, vanished into
air. Not until 1817, through Clinton, had he
enjoyed the refreshing stimulus of congenial
work which was, from the moment he entered
upon it, fairly sure to be accepted. His trials
were indeed lightened always by the devotion
of his wife and children, the worldly success
of a dutiful eldest son. But he had to bear
ill health, pain, and increasing solitude, for

' Although in 178S he flattered himself " that a few years well
employed will convey to me and my family an honest and easy sub-
sistence, the highest reward I desire," he was disappointed, like
many others. Their names are on the list of other Dutch immigrants
on the lands of the Holland Land Company, whose failures led its
General Agent in 1810 reluctantly to dissuade his principals in Amster-
dam from sending out any more Holland settlers to this country, where
conditions were so new and so difficult that success was impossible
even to men used all their lives to agriculture at home.

OLDEN BARNEVELD. 1 95

most of his friends, both in the Old World
and in the New, passed away before him,
and those that were left more seldom took
their part in the exchange of letters, which
to him was like the breath of life, and
his only companionship in many tracts of
thought.

How did he meet these trials, and what led
him through the desert places of those declin-
ing years which all must cross who reach his
age ? Happily, such consolations as found
are, other things being equal, not beyond the
reach of other pilgrims. Naturally as a gentle-
man he cultivated kindliness and good-will
toward all whom he knew, naturally the loyal
and affectionate heart never forgot his friends,
or doubted them because sometimes they had
much and he always little. Man of the world,
he diverted himself with literature. The bold
soldier of Utrecht, the Patriot and reformer
who in his time had burned with the wrath and
the hope of the Revolution, knew well twenty
and more years later how to " sit by a country
fireside and listen " — well-trained soldier and

196 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

publicist as he was — "to what was doing in
Rome." . . . " The obscure inhabitant of the
Western woods " worked with his own hands,
early and late, in his "gardens," "charming"
to him^s if they smiled by the Lake of Geneva
or the canals of Holland, and welcomed his
friends to his " cot," no matter at what per-
sonal inconvenience in that small house of few
rooms. Student of Groningen and Franeker,
he drank deep of the Greek and Latin authors,
while, as a modern, he explored as far as he
might the fast widening domain of natural
history.

Lastly, Orientalist and clergyman of Leyden,
as he was, he constantly read and re-read the
Holy Scriptures in the original tongues, and
from their unfailing source it would seem as
if he drew the submission, the humility, the
courage, and the Christian hope with which,
without a trace of bitterness or regret, he
accepted the disappointments of life and con-
fronted " the time to be old, to take in sail."

" Long since," he said, " I was weaned from
an inordinate desire of seeing my days much

OLDEN BARNEVELD. igj

prolonged. I grow more and more indifferent
to the closing scene. From time to time, a
bolt with which our heart was riveted, is
loosened, and it is natural that we look undis-
may'd at the instant when the last shall be
removed. The Almighty shall be just and He
is wise and good, this is the corner stone of my
faith. Had I not believed in the gospel, I
doubt not or many years past I should have
ended my existence, now I live in hope." Yet
he often longed for death, and when it came it
was as he would have wished, "a short warn-
ing," for his health to the last had been good.
His son had visited him in August, he had
been to see his old friend Scriba at Oneida
Lake but the week before, and on the 31st he
had written to his bosom friend in Holland,
Peter Vreede^ — the same for whom he had
placed his life and liberty willingly in jeopardy,
and faced the long political trial in 1782 —
forty-seven years before — what was to be the
last letter of their lifelong correspondence.

' Always of unquestioned integrity, firmners, and extraordinary
talents. V. d. K.

198 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

" Now I must close," it ended. " I can
scarcely distinguish one letter from another.
Whatever may happen I know you remain
unalterably my friend, as, so long as I draw
breath, shall I be yours. Once again, farewell."

A week later, on September 7, 1829, his
" passports were signed " as he had so long de-
sired, and he "was dismissed."

Twelve years before, the autobiography had
been concluded with these words :

You know, my dear John, although we lead an
inglorious life, working hard day by day, though
with pleasure, yet as labourers, — our income, with all
your Mother's economy, and your sister's unrelent-
ing care and industry, would be insufficient if we
were not chiefly supported by your rare gener-
osity ; and although to appearance in a low station,
in a humble cottage, without carriage, or even a
horse, yet we are beloved, we are respected by many
who know us. We gained many a friend, and, God
be thanked, we lost none; and we continued to be
favoured with the good opinion of those who can
bestow esteem. Among these I glory in an Adams,
in a Jefferson and Jay, in Eliot's family, in Busti, in
Piatt, in Scriba, and in the cordial and respectful
friendship of you, my worthy son.

The Philosophical Society at Philadelphia, the

OLDEN BARNEVELD. 1 99

Academy of Arts and Sciences at Boston, — that of
Philosophy, and Literature at New York, have as-
sociated me with their members ; while a Jefferson,
a Clinton, and many other worthies, distinguish me
with their attentions in my retirement, and there
yet I have not been idle.

Early I sent to Dr. Toulmin a " Critical Disserta-
tion on the person of Jesus Christ " which I fear is
lost.

My *' Philosophical Researches " on the systems of
Buffon and Jefferson, I undertook on the persuasion
of Chancellor Livingston.

I wrote a " History and Political Sketch on the
Achaic Republic " with now Governor De Witt
Clinton.

'* A Discussion on the Use of Copper by the An-
cients."

The " Scripture Doctrine of Baptism." (Now in
England.)

" Lectures for the Instruction of my Family."

" The Scripture Doctrine on the Lord's Supper."
(With the Rev. H. Dwight.)

" Symposium Uticense."

" A Tour through the Western Country, to the
Lakes."

" History of Servetus," published in England.

" Sketch on Agriculture."

" Wreath for the Rev. Daniel Dow."

Orations on the Death of Washington, and on the
Dutch Emancipation.

" Moral and Physical Causes of the Revolutionary

200 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

Troubles." Published in Boston in the General Re-
pository.

Memoranda concerning the character and person
of Jesus Christ, with various smaller articles pub-
lished here and in Europe. And so, my dear John,
I am approaching the end of my career, not fearing
it, nor anxiously wishing for its prolongation.

Was your character less good, my Son ! had I
observed in it glaring faults or predominant foibles
which might be corrected, in seeing their deformity
and noxious tendency in others, I might have had
many lessons to bestow from my past conduct.
Now it would do no good to lift up this veil. I am
not unhappy ; I hope I am not unthankful for
the numberless undeserved mercies bestowed on me,
and yet enjoyed. I recommend you to my God,
who will reward, for what is not in my power to
recompense you, while you possess my love, and my
ardent wishes for your happiness, and that of your
dear Julia, and promising children. Adio.
Yours,

Fr. Adrian van der Kemp.

Endeared to the people of his town as
Judge van der Kemp was, "by his high
Christian example, his unsullied honour and
integrity, and his constant friendship," they
bore witness to their regard for his children
all their life afterwards.

OLDEN BARNEVELD. 20I

For forty years after her father's departure,
Miss van der Kemp Hved on in the Httle
cottage, with her brother Peter until his
death, and after that alone.

" I have a very strong attachment," she
said, " to a long tried home, and never felt
a wish to exchange it for a better," and she
kept all exactly as when her idolised mother
and father were there.

One would be o-lad to know who were the
various strangers sheltered under its roof dur-
ing- her father's life, even whose names, she
used to say, were often not disclosed to her.
In her later days, refugees came no more to
American villages, but she kept the spirit of
the old hospitality fresh to the last. Her
house was very pleasant, full of old pictures
and of other interesting things, while the
heavenly goodness of its mistress, her strong
and well-trained mind and will, made its
uplifting atmosphere. " But for her sustain-
ing kindness," said Miss Mappa, " I should
have sunk under my trials, and even in her own
afflictions she has soothed and comforted me."

202 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

So closely united was Miss van der Kemp
from her earliest years with this oldest friend
and constant companion, born in Holland
like herself, that no sketch of her life would
be complete without some account of Miss
Mappa, whose personal ties, occupations, and
circumstances were so much the same.

Sophia Apollonia, the only daughter of
Colonel Mappa, never married, and always
lived within a stone's throw of Miss van der
Kemp, save for a few years when after her
father's death she first left the old place, now
become her brother's, for a house of her own.
From 1832 to 1841 she occupied the " Stone
Cottage," " where all was in miniature save
affection." Later she built again, this time in
the village, another cottage, where she lived
until her death, with two friends, Madame de
Castro and her mother, Madame Marguerat,
whose father was the well-known Dutch poet
Nomz.

In January, i860, after a life which had not
been without its troubles, Miss Mappa was
taken away. " Now," wrote Miss van der

OLDEN BARNEVELD. 203

Kemp, " there will be no let or hindrance to that
generous, benevolent spirit which so delighted
in doinof tjood, and makinof all around her
happy, and this thought ought to forbid my
dwelling on my loss, but it is indeed grievous
to part with one so dear."

Thus left, the last of her generation — for
both her brothers had died — Miss van der
Kemp kept on her way without repining, for
" our holy religion " had taught her that not
only a grateful, but a cheerful spirit was an
"acceptable offering," She still interested
herself in her many friends, her books and
flowers, local affairs and public events, and
happily she saw the end of the Civil War,
surviving until January 3, 1868, when after
a short illness she died in the eighty-third year
of her age, revered and beloved by all, the
last of the exiles who came from Holland
so long before, and who had for so many years
adorned with their character and attainments
the little American settlement.

APPENDICES.

205

APPENDIX A.

"At an early stage of the American Revolution,
when the struggle for liberty and independence was
yet doubtful, the Dutch merchants,' who afterwards
formed the Holland Land Company, warmly espous-
ing the cause of this infant republic, came forward
at every hazard to furnish her with supplies, in order
to relieve the wants of her armies. The meritorious
exertions of these individuals cannot be forgotten
by the surviving patriots of the revolution, nor will
the faithful records of history cease to attest them
to posterity.

" The government of the United States, in the
enjoyment of peace and independence, being soon
happily enabled by a wise and regular system of
finance to satisfy the demands of their public credit-
ors, the capital of a part of the debt thus contracted
with the merchants of Holland was thrown into
their hands at a moment when the convulsions and
revolutions of Europe threatened to subvert the
whole fabric of civil society. Under these circum-
stances they determined to reinvest the funds in

' Especially van Staphorst, Stadnitski, and Willink. F. A. v. d. K.
MS. letter to Adams, June 19, 1827.

207

2o8 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

American lands, and during the course of the years
1792 and 1793 the uncultivated wilds of the Genesee
thus passed into the hands of the individuals who
composed the Holland Land Company." — Memorial
by Paul Busti.^ See Lincklaen's Journals, pp. 135,
136.

APPENDIX B.

Poplar Forest near Lynchburg Apr. 25-, ib.

Sir

Your favor of Mar. 24. was handed to me just as I
was setting out on a journey of time and distance,
which will explain the date of this both as to time
and place. The Syllabus, which is the subject of
your letter was addressed to a friend ° to whom I had
promised a more detailed view, but finding I would
never have time for that, I sent him what I thought
should be the outline of such a work, the same
subject entering sometimes into the correspondence
between mr. Adams and myself, I sent him a copy
of it. the friend to whom it had been first addressed
dying soon after, I asked from his family the return
of the original, as a confidential communication,
which they kindly sent me. so that no copy of it,
but that in possession of mr Adams, now exists now
out of my own hands. I have used this caution,

' Born in Milan, Italy ; came to Philadelphia in 1794 and died
there 1824, Second General Agent of the Holland Land Company.
" A good man of conspicuous talents and doing good wherever he
went."

' Dr. Rush of Philadelphia.

APPENDIX B. 209

lest it should get out in connection with my name ;
and I was unwilling to draw on myself a swarm of
insects, whose buzz is more disquieting than their
bite, as an abstract thing, and without any in-
formation from what quarter derived I can have no
objection to it's being committed to the considera-
tion of the world ... if the Syllabus and Extract
(which is short) either in substance, or at large, are
worth a place under the same cover with your
biography [of Jesus Christ], they are at your service.
I ask one only condition, that no possibility shall be
admitted of my name being even intimated with the
publication, if done in England, as you seem to
contemplate, there will be the less likelihood of my
being thought of. I shall be much gratified to learn
that you pursue your intention of writing the life of
Jesus, and pray to accept the assurance of my great
respect and esteem.

[Signed.] Th. JEFFERSON

MONTICELLO July 30.- 16.

Dear Sir

Your favor of July 14. is received, and I am en-
tirely satisfied with the disposition you have made
of the Syllabus, keeping my name unconnected with
it as I am sure you have done . . .

MONTICELLO, Aug. 3, 23.

Dear Sir

Your kind letter of May 26. has laid too long
by me awaiting an answer, the truth is that the
difificulty of writing has obliged me even when in

210 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

better health to withdraw much from correspondence,
and now an illness of some weeks, from which I am
just recovering, obliges me to use a borrowed pen
to acknolege it's receipt, and indeed that is all I
can do even now, my mind being entirely abstracted
from all the business of the world olitical, literary,
worldly or of whatever other form, my debility is
extreme, permitting me to ride a little, but to walk
scarcely at all. I am equal only to the passive occu-
pation of reading, in this state of body and mind I
can only assure my friends that I shall ever recollect
with affection the pleasures their correspondence
has afforded me, and shall pray without ceasing for
their health, happiness & prosperity, among these
I pray you to be assured that I entertain for yourself
distinguished sentiments of esteem & high respect.

Th : Jefferson

[From the original letters to F. A. van der Kemp.
The Buffalo Historical Society owns these and nine
others, of which only three appear in Ford's edition
of Jefferson's works.]

APPENDIX C. 211

APPENDIX C.

Baron Robert Jaspar van der Capellen's brother,
Alexander Philip van der Capellen, held the post of
Kamerheer to the Stadtholder, until in 1783 the
prince withdrew his confidence from him, influenced
probably by intrigue, though acting under colour of
his belief that the Kamerheer's " Cousin of Over-
yssel " and his brother Robert Jaspar van der Marsch,
who were publicly opposed to him, were planning
the overthrow of the Stadtholderate. In vain the
Kamerheer protested ; finally he gave up his key,
virtually lost before. As the effect of this was to
injure him, and as he sought in vain a satisfactory
public exoneration from William, he printed his
vindication entitled " The Conduct of Jonkheer A.
P. van der Capellen related by himself to the Public."

In 1787, when the Prussians invaded Holland, the
defence of Gorcum was entrusted to him — being a
" member of a noble and distinguished family — lead-
ers of the patriot party." Forced by the inhabitants
to surrender to the troops under the Duke of Bruns-
wick, and being a person odious to the Stadtholder,
he was thrown into a horrible prison at Wezel where
his health was so injured that he died at Utrecht
soon after his release, " snatched in the prime of life,
from his country, his fragile wife and innocent
children." See Kok.

212 FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

NOTE.

Mr, Theo. L. DeVinne writes September 12, 1898:
" The late Mr. W. W. Pasko, who had some cor-
respondence with Philadelphia type-founders about
Mappa, told me that some of Mappa's types were
shown in the Binny & Ronaldson specimens. It is
possible that he sold to B. & R. the entire plant of
the Mappa foundry. I have a copy of the Mappa
specimen book issued by him in Holland. I com-
pared the types in this specimen with those of the
early New York type-founders, and am confident
that his punches and matrices were not sold or used
by any founder of this city."

THE WRITINGS OF
FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP.

EXAMPLES OWNED IN AMERICA.

Aan>ne7-kingen over de Verklaering der Unie van Utrecht, door
P. Paulus, in drie Brieven, geschreven door E. H. J. Amster-
dam, 27 May, 1778. Pp. 126. [Bound up in fourth volume of
Verklaering. '\ Utrecht: Wild, n. d.

Derde Brief over de Drostendicnsten in Overyssel, door een Heer
uit Twenthe, etc. July, 1779. [With an ode.] Svo, pp. 14S.
Pamphlet. [First and second parts missing.]

yr. yohan Derk van der Capellen, Heer van der Pol. Beschreven
in de Ridderschap van Overyssel Regent. Leyden: Herdingh,
1779. Svo, pp. viii., 238.

y. D. van der Capellen, Regent, 1st Vervolg. (No title-page.)
Preface, 2 pp. [Book begins with p. 239.] Svo, pp. 239-282.

Tiueede Vervolg op yr. y. D. van der Capellen, Regent. Preface
by Junius Brutus Cella, 28 Dec, 1779. Utrecht: B. Wild,
n. d. Pamphlet, 8vo, pp. ii., 283-342. [Third and fourth
parts missing.]

Vijfde Vervolg en Slot op yr. y. D. van der Capellen, Regent, door
Fr. Adr. van der Kemp. Leyden: Herdingh, 1785. [Book
begins with p. 401 ; ends with table of contents of the whole
work.] Oneida Historical Society.

Procedures . . . Pieter Marcus vs. Francois Adriaan van der Kemp
over het doen of laaten drukken van den Lierzang, etc. Door
E.H.J. Leyden : Her diiigh, ly 80. Leyden: Herdingh, 1782.
Pp. xlii., 236. Preface by van der Kemp.

213

214 THE WRITINGS OF

Verzameling van Stukken tot Noord- America betrekkelyk, etc., van
Junius Brutus. Leyden: Herdingh, 1781. Pp. xlii., 300, 8vo.
N. Y. Historical Society. Gift of F. A. v. d. K., 1818.
Boston Public Library (Adams's Library.)

[In 1785 this was advertised in Holland under v. d. K.'s name.]
[The volume contains two letters of Governor William Liv-
ingston and Jonathan Trumbull, the autographs of which he left
with his manuscripts as a legacy to a European friend when he
crossed the Atlantic]

Elftal Kerkelyke Redevoeringen, door Fr. Adr. van der Kemp,
Predikant by de Doopgezinden Te Leyden. Te Leyden : by
L. Herdingh, 1782. Pp. vi., 243, 8vo.

Beredeneerde Catalogus eener Verzn7neling van Schilderyen der eerste
Meesters van Nederland. 'S Hage. Th, P. van Os, en voorts
alomme in Nederland. [1783?] Pamphlet, 8vo, pp. viii., 32.

[If not the one by van der Kemp, it is by Pieter Paulus.
See page 86.]

Historie der Admissie van jfr. y. D. van der Capellen tot den Pol,
etc. Door Fr. Adr. van der Kemp. Leyden : L. Herdingh,
1785. Svo, pp. 245. (Dedicated to Robert Jaspar, Baron van
der Capellen of Marsch, etc.) New York State Library, Boston
Public Library (Adams's Library).

Andwoord op den der den en vierden Brief van Mr. H. Calkocn.
Door Fr. Adr. van der Kemp. Te Leyden: by L. Herdingh,
1785. Oneida Historical Society.

[published in AMERICA.]

Speech at a Meeting, at Whitestown, for the Institution of a Society of
Agriculture. O. P. Easton. Whitestown, 1795. 4to, pp. 19.
Pamphlet. New York State Library, Harvard Library.

Eulogy of George Washington. February 22, 1800. New York
State Library.

A Wreath for the Rev. Daniel Dow. Utica, 1806. Pamphlet.
Library of Columbia University, Harvard Library,

An Oration Delivered on the nth of March, 1814, at Utica, Com-
memorative of the Emancipation of the Dutch from French

FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP. 21$

Tyranny. Utica : Merrell & Camp, 1814. New York State
Library; Mercantile Library, New York City; Harvard Library.

Sketch of a Desired Work. JMoral and Physical Causes of the Revo-
lutionary Spirit in the Latter Part of the Eighteenth Century,
with their Probable Issue on Both Cotitinents. General Re-
pository, Boston, 18 13, vol. iv. , p. 390. Aanteekeningen, etc.
Utrecht: June 23, 1862.

Lambrechtsen's History of the Ne7u Netherlands. Translated from
the original Dutch by the late Francis Adrian van der
Kemp, Honorary Member of the New York Historical Society.
Vol. i., Collections of the New York Historical Society, 1841.

Letters to Colonel Adam G. Mappa ; a Tour through a Part of the
Western District of New York in ijg2.

[Appended to Seymour, J. F., Centennial Address at Trenton,
N. Y., 1877. Pp. 47-128.]

[unpublished.]

Metnoir on the Use of Copper by the Greeks. A letter to John
Luzac, LL.D., Prof. Linguae Greci?e et Hist. Patriae, University
of Leyden. 4th March, 1S03. Pp.69. MS. Buffalo Historical
Society Library.

Researches on Buffons a?td Jefferson's Theories in Natural His-
tory, in Letters to Gerrit Boon, Esq., by Fr. Adr. van der
Kemp. Pp. i., 270. MS. Buffalo Historical Society Library.

Historical Sketches on Calvin and Servetus. MS. Harvard Library.
[The sketch of Servetus was published in 1812 in the Mortthly
Repository in England.]

A Dutch Symposium in a Letter of Frank Noort ten halven to
Painful Tickle. To Col. Benj. de Wandelaer [Walker]. 4th
May, 1814. MS. Buffalo Historical Society Library.

Twenty-eight Volumes of Translations from the Dutch Colonial
Records of the State of Neiv York. 1638-1674. MS. New
York State Library.

[Often erroneously cited as the "Albany Records."]

A Sketch of the Achaian Republic in Letters to Colonel fohn
Lincklaen. By Junius Brutus. " Mutato nomine de te fabula

2l6 WRITINGS OF VAN DER KEMP.

narratur." — Horat. Sat., i., 70. 14 letters, pp. 250. MS.
Oneida Historical Society,
Lectures on the Scripture Doctrine of Baptism. MS. Oneida His-
torical Society.

The editor has found no copies of the following works named in
the Autobiography, footnotes, and elsewhere, also advertised in the
fly-leaf of the Historic, viz. :

Laurel Wreath for a Few Nobles; the translation into Dutch of a
sermon by a friend in England, The American War Lamented, 1781;
Magazine of State Papers and Documents Relating to the Military
jfurisdiction, 11 vols., 8vo ; Letters on the Corv^es in Overyssel ; My
Amusements ; Five Sermons on Solemn Days ; and also the Defence
of Colonel Alexander Philip van der Capellen, unless this be Het
Gedrag [La Conduite] of this officer, Aan het Publicq door IIe?n zelve
opengelegt [exposee par lui meme au Public], In 'S Gravenhage, by
C. Plaat, 1784 ; Vijf Brieven over de Militaire jfurisdictie, de
Quoten der Bondgenooten, en andere Pointen der Unie ; Vijftal
Bedestonden ; Het gedrag van Israel eti Rehabeam ten Spiegel van
Volk, etc. Vors in een Leerrede ; Stukken over de Drosten-diensten
in Overyssel meest uitgegeven en by een verzameld; Lofrede op George
Washington den 23sten van Sprokkelmund 1800 in Oneida District
Staet van New York, door Fr. Adr. van der Kemp. ^'Anch' io sono
Pittore." — Corregio. Svo, p. 30. Amsterdam, 1800. [See Wash-
ingtonia, F. B. Hough, vol. ii., p. 270.]; Translation ("printed
on the Continent ") of his correspondent Sir William Jones' Odes to
Liberty ; Address at the Opening of the Erie Canal. Trenton,
October 26, 1825. M]S.?]

" Frank de Vry " was a nom-deplume of van der Kemp, accord-
ing to Mr. G. van Loon. See his Beschrijving, Vervolg ii., p. 189,
note 2; also p. 185, note 4. It is also attributed to Peter Vreede.

LIST OF PRINCIPAL AUTHORITIES
CONSULTED.

Aanteekeningen Provinciaal Utrechtsche Genootschap van Ku7isten

en Wetenschappen. Utrecht, 1862. Pamphlet.
Adams, Charles Francis. The Life and Works of John Adams.

Boston, 1S51. 10 vols., 8°.
Bayley, Rafael L. The National Loans of the United States,

Washington, D. C, 1882.
Beredeneerde Catalogus eener Verzanieling van Schilderyen, etc.

'S Hage. Th. P. van Os. Pamphlet, 32 pp. [Patriot.]
Beschrijving van Nederlandsche Historie-Penningen, ten vervolge op

het werk van Mr. Gerard van Loon. Amsterdam : Pieper &

Spenbuur, and Fredrik Muller, i822-i86g. 10 parts in 2 vols.

Folio.
BOLLES, Albert S. The Financial LListory of the United States

from 1774 to lySg. New York, 1879.
Biographie Universelle. Michaud. Paris.
Biographisch Woordetiboek der Nederlanden. Uitgeven onder Hoofd-

redactije van D''- G. D. F. Schotel. (On binder's title " A. J.

van der Aa.") Haarlem, n. d. 4 vols. Folio.
Catalogue Raisonn^ d^ttne Collection de Tableaux, Feints par les plus

farneux Artistes de ce Pais. En LLollatide, 1783. Pamphlet,

32 pp.
Catalogus Beredeneerde van eem uitmuntende Verzameling Schilder-

yen, etc. Uit het Fransch vertaald. Ln LLolland, 1783. Pam-
phlet, 37 pp. [Dutch translation of above.]
Chalmot, J. A. DE, Biographisch Woordenhoek der Nederlanden.

Amsterdam, 1798-1800. 8 vols., 8°.
217

2l8 LIST OF AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.

Chalmot, J. A. DE, Verzameling van Placaaten, etc. Campen,

1788-93. 50 vols., 8°.
Christian Reformer, or Unitarian Magazine and Review. London:

Sherwood, Gilbert & Piper, 1S34-1863.
Clinton, De Witt, Life and Writings. W. W. Campbell. New

York, 1849. 381 pp., 4".
Clinton, De Witt, pseud. " Hibernicus." Letters on the Natural

History and Internal Resources of the State of Nezv York. New

York, 1822. 224 pp., 8°.
Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution. Jared

Sparks. Washington, 1857. 6 vols.
Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States of America, ijSj-

lySg. Washington, 1837. 3 vols.
Greene, George Washington. German Elemetit in the War of

Independence. New York, 1876. 211 pp., 8°.
Hartog, Dr. J. De Patriotten en Oranjen van I'j^y-i'jS'j. Am-
sterdam, 1882. Pamphlet, 245 pp.
Hartog, Dr. J. Uit de dagen der Patriotten. Amsterdam : P. N.

van Kampen, n. d. 238 pp.
Holland, History of. C. M. Davies. London, 1841. 3 vols., 8°.
Hough, Franklin B. History of Lewis County, Neiv York.

Albany, i860. 319 pp., 8°.
Hough, Franklin B. History of Jefferson County, Neiv York.

Philadelphia, 1870. 593 pp., large 4to.
Hough, Franklin B. Washingtonia. Roxbury, 1865. 2 vols.,

272 pp., 4to.
Hough, P. M. Dutch Life in Town and Country. New York,

1901. 291 pp., 8°.
Jefferson, Thomas, Life of. Henry S. Randall. New York,

1858. 3 vols.
KOK, J. Vadcrlandsch Woordenboek. Amsterdam, 17S5-1796.

35 vols.
LiANCOURT, Due DE LA RocHEKOUCAULD. Voyages dans les £tats

Unis d'Atnt'rique en lygj-gb-g"/. Paris 'an VII de la Re-

publique, [8 vols.]

LIST OF AUTHORITIES CONSULTED. 219

Livingston, William, Governor of New Jersey. Life of. T.
Sedgwick, Jr. New York, 1833. 449 pp., 8".

LoosjES, A. Een Krachtig Libel. Studie over het pamflet Aan het
Volk vati Nederland. Haarlem : Loosjes, 1S86. Pamphlet,
116 pp.

Loosjes, A. Nog een en ander over het fa/nflet Aan het Volk
van Nederland. Amsterdam: Egeling, 1891. Pamphlet,
19 pp.

Monthly Anthology and Boston Review. Boston.

Morris, Gouverneiir, Diary and Letters of . Anne Gary Morris.
New York, 1880. 2 vols., 8°.

Morris, Gouverneur, Life of. Jared Sparks. Boston, 1832. 3
vols., 8".

Nieiiwe Nederlandsch Jaar Boeken.

Piojieers of Utica. M. M. Bagg. Utica, 1877. 665 pp., 8°.

Price. Aanmerkingen over den aart der burgerlyke Vryheid, over
de Gronden der Regeering, en over de Regtveerdigheid en Staat-
kunde van den Oorlog met Atiierika. . . . Uit het Engelsch
vertaald. Door Johan Derk, Baron van der Capellen. Leyden :
L. Herdingh, 1777. 8°, Library of State Department, Wash-
ington.

Procedures in de zaak van Mr. Pieter Marctis op en tegen Francois
Adriaan van der Kemp over het doen of laaten drukken van den
Lierzang, etc. Door E. H. J. Leyden : L. Herdingh, 1780.
Leyden: L. Herdingh, 1782. [With Introduction by van der
Kemp.] Pp. xlii., 236. Pamphlet, 8°.

Schuyler, G. W. Colonial Neiu York. New York, 18S5. 2
vols., 8°.

Seymour, John F. Centennial Address delivered at Trenton,
N. Y., July 4, 1876. IVith letters from Francis Adrian
van der Kemp, written in I7g2, etc. Utica, N. Y., 1877.
149 pp., 8".

Tocqueville, Alexis de. Democracy iti America. 4th ed. Cam-
bridge, 1864. 2 vols. 8°.
Tocqueville, Alexis de, Memoir, Letters and Remains of. Boston :
Ticknor & Fields. 2 vols., n. d. 8°.

220 LIST OF AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.

Trumbull, Jonathan, Governor of Connecticut, Life of. I. W.

Stuart. Boston: Crocker & Brewster, 1859. 700 pp., 8°.
Uit de Gedenkschriften van een voornaavt N'ederlandsche beambte.

Mr. H. VAN A. Tiel: H. C. A. Campagne & Zoon, 1882.

Pamphlet, 284 pp., 8°.

Une Invasion Prussienne en Hollande en 1787. Pierre de Witt.
Paris, 1886.

Van der Capellen de Marsch en Lathmer, M ^moires. Paris, 1791.
530 pp., 8°.

Memorie van den Heere van de Marsch. [The same as above
but in Dutch.] Dunkirk: van Schelle & Comp., 1791. Pp.
XXX., 437, 8".

Van der Capellen tot den Pol. Joan Derek, 1741-1784. J. A.

SiLLEM, De Gids, Nov., Dec, 18S2. Amsterdam.
V^a7i der Capellen tot den Pol. Joan Derek, Brieven van en aan.

W. H. Beaufort. Utrecht Hist. Genootschap, 1879. 854

pp., 8°.
Van der Capellen tot den Pol. Joan Derek, Brieven van en aan.

Aanhangsel. J. A. Sillem. Utrecht, Kemink, 1883. loi pp.,

S°.

Van der Capellen tot den Pol. Advis. 16. December, 1773. Te
Atnsteldaui. By Frans Hendrik Demter, Boekverkoper in
de Pylsteeg. Pamphlet, S pp., 4to. [Speech opposing the lend-
ing of the Scotch Brigade to the King of England for service in
America. Edition sanctioned by the author.]

Van der Capellen tot den Pol. Aan het Volk van A'ederland. Os-
tende, September, 1781. Pamphlet. 76 pp., 8°.

Van der Capellen tot den Pol. Aan het Volk van Nederland, i7QS-
[Reprint. Bound up with other pamphlets regarding it.] Astor
Library.

Van der Capellen tot den Pol. An Address to the People of the
Netherlands. Translated from the Dutch original. London :
J. Stockdale, 1782. Pamphlet, 137 pp., 8°. Astor Library.

Van der Capellen tot den Pol. Liber Amicorum, and List of Pro-
perty. MSS.

fVatson, Elkanah, Memoirs of; or Men and Titnes of the Revolu-
tion. New York, 1856. 460 pp., 8°.

INDEX.

Abbot, of Boston, 164
Abbot, of Coventry, 164
Achoean Republic, 155, 199
Adams, John, 56, 70, 71, 73, 74,
78, 103, 145, 146, 158, 163,
165, 166, 170, 173, 174, 175,
198
Acknowledgment as envoy in

Holland, 71
Arrival in Amsterdam, and

negotiation of loan, 65, 66
Independence of United States
acknowledged in Holland,

71, 73
Meeting with van der Kemp,
67
Adams, John Quincy, 163, 174,

176
Aerdenberg, 21
Agriculture and Natural History

Society, 1 30-1 31
Albany, 103
Allen, Mr., 166
Altforst, 29

American Independence :
Banquet at Amsterdam, 62
Dutch merchants' support,

207
Scotch Brigade, 37
Van der Capellen's support, 36,
63, 65-74

Amerongen, Baron of, 94
Amersfoort, 90, 93, 96
Amsterdam, 17, 62, 99, 106
Antwerp, 103, 105
Appeal To the People of Nether-
land, 54-58
Appeltern, 29, 56, 58, 70, 79
Arnheim, 30, 106
Athenaeum, 163
Athlone, Lord, loi, 102

Baltimore, 114

Baptist Seminary at Amsterdam

17-20
Barbeyrac, 41
Barneveld [formerly Trenton]

137, 140, 153, 154
Bax family, 2, 7
Beeckman family, 61, 117, 123
Belsham, Mr., 6
Bentinck, 34, 75
Bernhard, Mr., 134
Bernhard's Bay, 134
Blaeu, Rev., 15
Blok, Bernardus, 145, 188
Bonnet, Professor, 22
Boomhorst, Herr. 187
Boon, G., 130, 137, 138, 151
Boston, 162, 165, 171
Brabant, I02, 117
Bredenhorst, 35

222

INDEX.

Brederode, House of, 30
Breekop, 189, iqo
Brehan, Marchioness de, 121
Brodhead, C. C, 190
Brunei, Marc I., 136
Brunswick, Duke of, 98, 211
Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel, Duke

of, 36
Brussels, 105, 106, no
Bufion, 155

Busti, Paul, 159, 19S, 20S
Buzek, Baron, 93
Bynkershoek, 41

Calvin, 156

Cambridge, 162, 163, 164, 165
Camper, Professor, 12, 13
Canaseraga Hills, 128
Canon Law, 156, 159
Capellen, see van der Capellen
Capelkn Regent, 64
Carey, Mr., 163
Carson, Mrs., 172
Castorland, 119, 136, 138, 177
Catalogue Raisonn^, 100
Cau, J. J., 89, 157
Cazenovia, 135, 137, 171
Changuion, M., 167
Channing, Dr., 172
Chassanis, M., 136
Chateaubriand, 132
Chaudoir, 18
Chaufepie, Professor, 10
Chaulieu, 159
Chevalier, Professor Paul, 13,

15
Childs, Mr., 165, 166, 171
Childs, Sophia, 165
Christian Reformer, 6

Christian revelation, study of,

13-20
Clinton, Governor De Witt, 113,

158, 176, 178, 181, 186, 194,

199
Clinton, Governor George, 182
Collection of State Papers by

yutiius Brutus, 45, 49
Collins, Rev., no
Constable, William, 136
Cooper, Dr., 58
Cooper, Judge, 168
Copper — " Use of Copper among

the Greeks," 155, 199
Coppet, 168
Cortlandt, Col., 148
Corve'es abolished, 43, 62, 63,

76
Crescimbeni's Istoria della volg.

Poes, 159
Crolius, 180
Curtenius, in

Daendels, 143
Dana, Mr., 66
Dantzig Baptists, 113
De Castro, Madame, 202
De Famars' regiment, 9
De la Lande, 71
De Neuville, Mr., 67
De Rhoer, Jac, 11
De Witte family, 4, 7
Delaware, 117
Delft, 143

Delineation of the conduct of Is-
rael and Rehoboam, 53
Delmina, 16, 17
Dorset, Marquis of, 99
Drostendienst, 63

INDEX.

223

Dundas, James, Sarah, Eliza, 134
Duurstede, Wyk te, 84
Dwight, Mr., 166, 171, 172

Edict of Nantes, loS
Eliot, Charles, 164, 165
Eliot, Mr., 163, 164, 165, 198
Elizabethtown, 114
Emancipation of Holland, 187
Equestrian Order of Overyssel,

46, 62, 86
Erkelens, Gosuinus, 39, 40
Esopus, 116
Everett, 138, 164
Extract, 209

Faille, de la, 92, 93
Feldman, 15

Ferrier, Angel de, 134, 135
Five Sermons on Solemn Days,

61
Fizeaux loan, 68
Fort Brewerton, 128
Fort Stanwix [Rome], 121
France, 98, 99, 106, 108
Francfort, 189, 190, 191
Franeker University, 18
Franklin, Benjamin, 113, 114
Frederick the Great, 96, 150
Freeman, Dr,, 163
French Revolution, 107
Friesland, 60
Fynje, 71

Gallitzin, 113
Ganganelli's Letters, 21
Gardiner, Dr., 172
Garnalen Market, Amsterdam,
62

Genealogy :

Van der Capellen, 25-30

Van der Kemp, 1-5, 7
Genesee, 208
Geslacht Boeck, i
Girelius, Rev. Laur, no
Goekingas, 15
Goodricke, 22
Gorcum, 211
Gordon, Otto Derek, 87
Gorsel, 80, 81
Goverts, Miss E., 50
Groningen, 11-18, 55, 60
Guelderland, 60, 105, 106
Gyzelaer, C. de, 24, 44. 53, 69,

89, 157, 169

Haamsteede, 4, 7
Haazenberg, 90
Haersolte, Baron de, 139
Hague, the, 52, 73, 95
Hamilton, Col. A., and Mrs.,

113
Havre de Grace, no
Hechingen, 150
Hespe, J. C.,86
Hesse, Prince of, lo-ii
Het Loo, 97
" Hibernicus," 182, 186
Holland :

Emancipation, 187
Independence, 82
Political events, Patriot and
Orange Parties, 95-99, 108-
109
Prussian occupation of Amster-
dam, 98-99
Recognition of United States,
106

224

INDEX.

Holland Land Company, 134,

I37i 138, 140, 207, 208
Holley, Mr., 163
Hoofman, Jacob, no
Hoofman of Haerlem, 17
Hooft, H., 45
Hoogstraeten, 103
Horneca and Fizeaux, 67
Hubbard, R. J., 135
Humphrey, Colonel, 116
Huybert family, 3-4, 7

Izard, 167

Jansonius, Rev., 15
Jardins, des, 136
Jay, 198

Jefferson, 105, 112, 147, 155,
170, 171, 198, 199, 209, 210

Kamerheer, 210

Kampen, 8, 38

Kemp, van der, see van der

Kemp
Kempwyk, 124, 128, 134, 137
Kingston, 116, 117
Kirkland, President, 164, 165
Knickerbocker, Guert, 189, 191
Knox, General, 113
Kruyft, John de, 94
Kruyst, Dr. R. de, 85

La Fare, 159

La Fayette, Marquis de, 105

La Pole, 69

La Vauguyon, 88

Lake Oneida, 118-137, 177, 197

Lake Ontario, 128

Landas, Ermengarde de, 29

Laurel Wreath for a Few
Nobles, 47

Laurens, Henry, 66, 70

Le Ray de Chaumont, J. D.,
135, 136, 168

Le Raysville, 169

Le Sage, 11

"Letter Foundry" of Colonel
Mappa, 146, 148, 212

Letters on the Corve'es, 44, 45

Leydekker, Anna Catharina, 3, 8

Leyden, 21, 60, 69, 83, 103, 121,
196

Leye, Abr., 104, 105

Liancourt, Due de Rochefou-
cauld, 126, 127, 132, 136, 177

Liber Amicorum, 31

Lincklaen, Colonel John, 137,158

Lincklaen, Mrs. John, 186

Lindsey, 6, 159

Lingen, 54

Livingston, Governor, 65, 69,
114, 162

Livingston, Margaret Beeckman,

125, 154
Livingstone, General W., 113
Loosjes, Rev. A., 54
Louis XVI.. 106
Lowell, Mr., 165
Lutherans, 180
Luzac, John, 44, 49, 51, 67, 68,

69, 89, 103, 157
Lyric Poem, 48

McClure, Colonel, 161
Macdonald, Lieutenant, 93
Macomb, Colonel, 162
Madame la Princesse [of Orange]
100

INDEX.

225

Madison County, 135
Magazine of Authentic Docu-
ments on the Afilitary Jurisdic-
tion, 58-61
Mancel van Birum, 15
Mappa, Colonel Adam Gerard,
87, 130, 136, 137, 138, 139,
140-151, 154, 159, 165, 170,
178, 186, 1S7, 188, 189, 192
Banishment from Delft, 143
Death and funeral sermon,

151, 192, 193
Emigration to America, 144
" Letter Foundery," 146, 148,

212
Marriage, 142
Military and political career,

141-143

Records of, 140, 143

Sketch of life in America, 146-
152
Mappa, Miss Sophia A., 201-202
Mappa, Mrs., 138, 139, 141-142,

144, 146-152, 192, 193
Marcus, P., 52
Marguerat, Madame, 202
Maximilian, Emperor, 4
Mennonites, 23
Merwede, Baron de, 92
Messchert, no
Militia organised by van der

Kemp, 83-87
Miller. Judge, 188, 189
Montezillo, 173
Montmorin, 88
Morris, Gouverneur, 16S
Morse, Dr., 164
Mount Vernon, 114, 115
Moustier, Count, 113, 121

Muller, Louis Anathe, 135
Mulligan, 149

Munster, General Baron von, 99
My Amusements, 16

Nantes, Edict of, 108

Natewitsch, Lord of, 94

Necker, 168

Netherlands, see Holland

New Amsterdam, 180, 181

New Doelen, 62

New York, 103, 112, 116, 135,

136, 179, 181, 182, 185
Nomz, 202
Noodt, 41

North, William, 149
Norton, Mr., 165
Nymegen, 61, 96, 97, 98, 121, 123
Nys, Adrian de, 90, 91, 93, lOO,

102

Ode published by v, d. K., crim-
inal proceedings, 48-53
Ogdensburg, 161
Olden Barneveld [Trenton, now
Barneveld], 138, 139, 148, 153-
203
Old Fort Schuyler [Utica], 120,

149, 190
Ondaatje, Ph. J., 87
Oneida County, 140, 149
Oneida Lake, 118-137, 177, 197
Onondaga River, 120
Oosterbaen, Professor, 17-21,

112
Orange, Prince and Princess of,

81, 94, 95, 99, 100, 109
Orange party, 95, 96, 106, 108
Oriskany battle-ground, 121

226

INDEX.

Oswego, ii8

Overyssel, 35, 46, 62, 63, 64, 75

Pallandt van Zuithem, Baron, 45,

79
Parish, David, 179, 185
Parsons, Chief Justice, 165
Pasko, W. W., 211
Paspoort, Anna Adriana, 141
Paspoort, Burga Jacoba, 151
Patriot Party, 95, 96, 98, 99, 107,

108, 143, 144, 145
Patriot len-tyd, 158
Paulus, P., 24, 43, 44, 86
Peck, Professor, 164, 165
Pennsylvania, 168
Philadelphia, iio, 112, 114, 159
Pittsfield, 166
Piatt, Jonas, 136, 198
Pol, 70

See also van der Capellen of
Pol
Potemkin, Prince, 112
Price, Dr., Observations on Civil

and Religious Liberty and the

Justice of the War with A tner-

ica, 64
Prince, Dr., 164
Prussia, 98-99
Pui, Isaac du, 44

Quincy, 160, 163, 166, 172
Quincy, Mrs. Josiah, 186

Rabelais, 159
Ramboulet, Dominie, 5
Remonstrants, 16, 17
Richmond Hill, 146
Rietveld, Dominie P., 142

Ross, Messrs., 112, 114
Ruellan & Co., iii
Rush, Dr., 208

Sackett's Harbour, 161
St. George Delmina, 16
St. Lawrence County, 168
St. Omer, 99
St. Walburga Kerk, 28
Salmon in Oneida Lake, 129
Sassenstraat, 76
Schimmelpenninck, R., 86
Schroeder, Nic. , II
Schuttery, 84

Schuyler, Major Philip, 116
Scotch Brigade, American Revo-
lution, 37
Scriba, George, 126, 127, 133,

136, 197, 198
Sedgwick, Mr., 166
Serrurier, Rev. J. J., 9, 11-12
Servetus, 156

Seymour, Henry, 137

Seymour, Mrs., 171

'S Gravezande, 5, 12

Sharpe, General G. H., 116

Shattuck, Professor, 171

Smetius, 123

Smith, Judge, 164, 165

Smith, Melanchthon, 113

Smith, Peter, 136

Society of Manual Exercise for
Freedom and Fatherland, 83

South Carolina, the, 85

Sowden, Rev., 16

Spaen, 86

Sparman, no

Stadhuis of Zwolle, 75

Stadnitski, 207

INDEX.

227

Stadtholder, 65, 71, 90, 95, 96,
98, 105, 109, 125, 210, 211

Stael, Madame de, 168-169

Starman, F. W., 134

Staten Island, 29

Sterne, 159

Steuben, Baron, 148, 189

Stinstra, Rev. John, 17

Stone Cottage, 202

Stuyvesant, Peter, 29, 181

Syllabus, 160, 170, 171, 208,
209

Sylvius, Mr., 102, 103

Synod of Dort, 77

Tappan, Mrs., 113

Ten Broek, 11

Thouars, Viscount Colonel de, 93

To the People of Netherland

[Ann het Volk van Ncder-

land\ 54-58
Tocqueville, de, 177, 178
Toulmin, Rev. Dr. J., 6, 16,

199
Tower and Lamb, 20
Trenton [now Barneveld], 137,

140, 148, 153, 179
Trumbull, Governor, 39, 57, 69
Turck, 15, 86
Tyng, Mr., 163, 165, 172

Union of Utrecht, 26, 27, 41, 83
United States :

Loan from Holland negoti-
ated, 65, 66, 71, 72
Recognition by Holland, 71,

73, 106
War of 181 2 alluded to, 166-
167

Internet Archive Audio

Featured

Top

Images

Featured

Top

Software

Featured

Top

Books

Featured

Top

Video

Featured

Top

Mobile Apps

Browser Extensions

Archive-It Subscription

Save Page Now

Full text of "Francis Adrian Van der Kemp, 1752-1829, an autobiography, together with extracts from his correspondence;"

See other formats